Shades of Grey
by Lord Valentai
Summary: My other KOTOR story. Someone told me they wanted more of this, so here it is. A post KOTOR story with an odd twist. The Sith have recovered from the fall of the Star Forge, only a mysterious woman can aid the Republic.
1. Prologue Redemption

Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic

Shades of Grey.

This story was written entirely for my own and hopefully the reader's pleasure. There have been many stories set after Knights of the Old Republic and many of them are very good. Therefore this story is very, very different as shall be shown later. The characters that are new are mine entirely whilst anything else belongs to its proper owner. I like reviews and accept constructive criticism as I acknowledge that nobody is perfect, especially myself. The only thing that I own is the original characters and situations here portrayed.

Continuity; if it seems wrong then it most probably is. Regrettably I am not a reader of the vast numbers of books and comics that come out. If something seems wrong, tell me but please do not hold it against me!

Lastly, realism; I thought KOTOR was a great game but by its nature it was an unrealistic portrayal of reality. Here, the Jedi are just as likely to die as a normal man and do not have unlimited force powers to help them. I hope it works out for the best.

Prologue – The Redemption.

The planet hung in space, a blue and green sphere against the blackest dark and brightest light of space. The planet with its three moons looked unreal in the endless depths of deep space. Near the planet was something even more unusual than even the most strange examples of space phenomenon. It looked like a tiny star, a golden ball of light that pulsed outwards with energy. As unusual as this was, it was what was above it that make it unique. There was a space station hovering over it. Drawing power from the orb and into the bottom of the device. The station was huge, fully fifteen miles from highest peak to lowest point. In form it was like a wide, short cylinder with a collection of great spires for the top and bottom. They looked like huge eldritch claws growing from the four points of the base. The power source was a mere fifty miles beneath the lowest point, it was no ordinary star as it gave off none of the nuclear heat of a regular star.

This was the Star Forge, an ancient device of alien technology that had been created as a factory for the ancient race which had made it. This device had fuelled the war efforts of the Sith for the last few years, now it was a battlefield. Ships, both large and small clashed in battle near the Star Forge. The battle had come down to a brutal pounding match as the two sets of capital ships hammered each other whilst the fighters flew their many errands between them.

In this struggle, there was two forces; the Republic and the Sith and the Republic was winning. The more manoeuvrable Republic ships were driving back the heavier Sith ships and pushing through towards the great station itself. The Sith were breaking, some fleeing and some fighting on until the bitter end. Although many were damaged, the Republic pressed on with reckless fury, desperate to destroy the factory and thus win this battle for the Republic. The heavy battleships and cruisers of the fleet fired blast after blast of energy and missiles into the station. Nothing could take such punishment for long, the station started to fall apart, slowly losing its height above the ball of light.

On the highest pinnacle of the Star Forge was the Sith battlefleet command. It was an impressively large room, filled with tactical displays, view screens and bodies. Scores of dead from both sides lay where they had fallen in this final battle to remove the head of the Sith fleet. The defenders and attackers had slaughtered one another until only two remained. One was a tall women with long robes that seemed to change in colour whenever the light changed. She was unusually tall and had a keen beauty that could touch the hearts of any that came across her. Her cheek was marred and in a perverse way, enhanced by a scar from some battle long ago. She breathed heavily and her face frowned in concentration as she faced her opponent.  Her blue eyes looked with a calm determination at her foe, she was evidently tired but still in control. The women's opponent could not have been more different; a tall bald man with great purple tattoos across his skull. His lower jaw was encased in a metal contraption and his eyes were a dull yellow. His voice was a dull grating sound, artificial and menacing.

"We meet at last Revan. All around us are gone and it is just you and I once again. I must say that I was impressed by your tenacity in battling your way through my troops."

"If you had come and fought me then you may have had a chance but know that now your reign ends Malak." She said calmly and he chuckled with his electronic voice.

"I knew that this would have to be solved in the old way, master against apprentice. You and I have been both, now we will see who is truly superior."

"I do not desire superiority Malak, only an end to this war. If you will not stand aside then I have no choice but to fight you." Revan replied and activated her lightsaber.

"'Do not desire superiority?'" Malak roared, giving an imitation of Revan's voice. "You sicken me, even before we fought in the wars you were more adventurous. You would not hesitate to battle the council if they stood in the way of what you thought was right. You have become a weakling Revan, a pawn and a slave. To think that I once admired you."

"Then maybe you were wrong Malak. I am indeed a new person now. A better person perhaps. Maybe my own hubris demanded what happened to me. I no longer fight for myself, but for what I believe in."

"Then you are a fool Revan. Where are the people that will look out for you? There is no one except yourself." Malak re-ignited his red blade to contrast with the blue blade that the former Sith Lord held.

"I see you rush to violence still Malak, as you always did. I suppose you will not consider redeeming yourself?" She asked, knowing it was hopeless.

"Of course not, do not be a fool. I was impressed by your fighting skills Revan but you are no match for me. I am the darklord and you are but a lackey of the Jedi."

"And so you have added overconfidence to your impressive list of personal traits Malak. If it is a fight you desire then you shall have it, however it pains me." She said and saluted.

"Enough talk, the galaxy is mine." Malak said and attacked.

Revan stepped back to give herself room to parry the downward cut before sweeping forward with a swift flurry of her own attacks and blocks. Malak held his ground and counter attacked with precise and cutting attacks. The two were evenly matched, the agility and finesse of Revan met the stubborn nature and dark strength of the former apprentice. Malak stepped forward and locked the blades together, his dull eyes blazing with anger as the blades screeched. With a triumphant growl, Malak rammed his forearm into the Jedi before him, laughing as she staggered in surprise. The darklord gave her no chance to recover but attacked and attacked, driving her back towards the top view window. The battle raged outside, no less fierce than in this ruined and body strewn room. Revan leapt back, using her powers to land her safely amidst the wreckage of a fallen ceiling. She shook her head to clear her vision and looked into the eyes of the lost Jedi.

"Losing your touch Revan? I do not remember you fighting like this when you fought against Mandalore and his elite guards. Still, the light side is weak, it saps your strength and makes you hold back."

"But it means your judgement is better Malak then if you do nothing but attack. Some arguments can be solved with words and not death, that is what I have learnt."

"Then you should learn more than that. The darkside can give you everything you want. Once, you had the power of an empire behind you, now you are just a single insect in a great hive. A hive that will spit you out when your usefulness is over."

"And how is the way of the Sith any better? To kill and destroy, I have learnt that such things are not to be desired. I learnt that from you when you betrayed me Malak."

"And do you hate me for that?" He countered. "In your heart you know what you want is the power to bring balance to the galaxy."

"And balance means a balance, not one side dominating the other." Revan replied.

"Like the Republic does now?" Malak responded and strode forward.

"If there is imbalance, I would rather that it was towards the side of light and not darkness and chaos." She responded and then defended herself as Malak attacked again.

The light sided Jedi fought with great precision and skill but once again the strength and passion of the darklord was slowly overcoming her and beating her down. Seeing this, she channelled all of her powers to push the foe backwards and then press the attack. Malak blocked the psychic assault but was staggered by the swift assault. A cut, by luck or design, scored across Malak's leg, just enough to burn the skin. The man roared in anger and slammed his blade down so hard that Revan's lightsaber was driven aside. The blades cut through the metal railing like it was paper; Malak took the advantage offered and slammed his fist down onto her chest. The blow sounded sickeningly loud despite the klaxons and sirens of the station. The downward blow had staggered the Jedi and done considerable damage. She gasped, unable to breathe and the darklord took advantage of the distraction to knock her blade aside and slice up and across her body.

The blow would have been fatal but instinct or luck made the Jedi step back. The cut now razored an inch deep gouge running from her waist in an arc across her forearm up to her shoulder. Revan moaned and fell bonelessly against the weakened railing, making it creak.

Malak stepped forward and kicked the discarded blade down into the main room where it clattered into darkness. Malak held his blade at her throat and would have smiled if he still could. The station alarms continued and the flashes of ships and explosions seemed to be getting closer. The darklord did not seem concerned as Revan desperately held her side to stop the blood flowing whilst trying to breathe.

"Not so strong after all were you Revan? Do you not see now that nothing can hope to stand against the true power of the darkness. Despite your weakness I will give you a quick death, in remembrance of what you once were Revan."

"Maybe I am weaker now but in the end, darkness will destroy itself." She chocked and blood dribbled from her mouth.

As Malak readied himself the com-link on Revan's belt crackled with the voice of her friend and secret love, Captain Carth Onasi.

"Revan, this is Carth, the Republic is making the final assault so you will have to leave now. We will wait as long as we can." His voice faded and then came back. "Revan? Revan, do you hear me?"

The crippled Jedi's eyes closed in pain and she tried to move, to answer but Malak pulled the device from her belt and with great glee, crushed it. Her breathing was slowing as he looked down on her.

"Emotion? The sin of a Jedi, maybe you are not as pure as you make out. As for your friends, you will have to forget about them, your life is over." He said and saluted.

"That lies in the force." She said slowly.

Malak laughed and drew back for the beheading blow. Revan leaned her head back and waited for the end.

The horizontal blow seemed, from Revan's eyes to slow as it neared her. Everything seemed muted and she sighed slowly in regret for what she had done and what she would never do. The cut that would end her was halfway through when the station moved. The station shuddered like a great beast hit by the poacher's shot. Wounded but not slain, the massive movement surged power through the control computers which started to crackle with power. All this happened so quickly that Malak did not have a chance to react when the machine behind him exploded in a shockwave of energy and sound. The man staggered forward in surprise as shrapnel flayed his back. The blow cutting down on the light side Jedi swung off balance and chopped through the rails to her right.

Revan was beaten, her life was going and she felt that she was frozen. The exploding console was shielded from her by Malak. She saw the red blade go wide and she resolved not to die here, to this incarnation of evil. Even if she died in the attempt, it was better than accepting her fate. All this flashed through her mind in a second as Malak recovered his blade. He seemed to assume she was still weak for he drew the blade over his head to cut down like a comet's strike. Revan's hands closed on something, a knife, her knife. The one reminder of her three lives that she still carried, the knife of Mandalore. Taken from his corpse and then used in her travels, it was with her still as she put every grain of her essence into the last and desperate strike.

Malak never knew how one who was so beaten could move with such speed. He had thought her crushed and had left himself open. There was no time even to dodge as she drove into him. The knife, just four inches long, had not lost any of its perfect balance despite its frequent use. By luck or design it struck a weak point in Malak's armoured bodysuit and drove in deep. Revan, used her collapsing weight to push the Sith Lord back. Malak, his balance gone dropped his blade as the wound spilled blood to mix with the red of his armour. He fell and fell back onto the computer that had staggered him originally. Revan fell as he smashed into the live circuits and lay back.

The pain roared and tore through the Sith master, the pain was like nothing he had experienced, even the loss and pain from his ruined face could not match the intensity of the electrical power in him. His new voice box shorted and then exploded inside his head and still the shocks went on like some twisted dream. With his final strength he hurled himself from the ruin and fell bloodily at Revan's feet.

The darklord's face was blistered and bloody and his lower face was a nightmarish ruin of bone, blood and metal. Unable to speak or scream, he ripped the knife from his stomach and looked at Revan. If he would die, then he would take her with him, she would not survive.

Revan saw the nightmare rise with the knife loom over her, preparing to drive down with his final blow into her chest and end her life. There was no pain anymore, just peace and she waited as the station started to move from side to side. It was losing altitude but not enough to send the gravity generators off line yet. Revan, former Sith Lord, Jedi and Scout waited for her death.

A shot interrupted her final thoughts. The red bolt flew over her prone body to hit the nightmare full in the face. Between the eyes the bolt struck and blew apart the skull of the darklord. The head exploded like a ripe fruit and threw the body backward, splattering blood across the dusty gantries. Revan wondered idly what was happening but she was so tired. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. There was a cry of anguish and two people were running across the remaining distance of deck to reach the two figures. One was a tall, brown haired and eyed man with the look of a military man. He wore a suit of heavy, silvery armour and sheathed the pistol which had fired the shot. His companion was different in almost everyway. She was also tall but there the resemblance ended. She was clearly a Jedi, a certain nobility was about her and her blue eyes were as expressive as anything else about her. Her long brown hair flowed down her back whilst her face was concerned as she ran forward to kneel beside Revan, her friend. The soldier threw himself to the fatally wounded Jedi's side, his face was one of horror and panic.

"Revan, look at me. Don't die on me here damn it!" He said desperately as he  lifted her head up. His eyes took in the dark blood near her heart and her lower torso. He shook her again, feeling for a pulse and finding a very weak one. He almost missed it, so faint was her ticking of her heart as he looked into her face. "Revan, come back. Don't leave me here." He said hopelessly. The female Jedi hung her head, her face a terrible mixture of emotion fighting her ingrained training.

"Is she still alive Carth?" She asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide her feelings.

"Yes. Bastila, help me carry her back to the Hawk, we don't have any time." He said but then stopped as the blue eyes opened and the faintest of smiles crossed Revan's face. She coughed and her eyes widened as blood trickled from her mouth. When she spoke, it was so softly that the two friends could barely hear it. The voice was like a whisper against the noise of a hurricane but it was there and Carth leaned down to hear her.

"I did it Carth." She said softly. Her breath rasped. "I have redeemed my actions. I am sorry." Her breathing started to slow and Carth held her close.

"We can help you. The Republic won, we can get you to a medic, you will be alright." He said, more for something to say rather than because he believed it.

"Too late for me." She gasped. "Go and save yourself. Goodbye." She said and fell back.

"I have not abandoned anyone on a mission and I am not going to start now." He said angrily, anger at himself and started to pull Revan up to carry her. Bastila staggered as the station turned slightly, the power was flickering and explosions could be heard in the lower points of the station.

"Carth, we have to go. We have no time to stay here. If we do not go now then we are all dead." Bastila said  and tugged his arm but he shrugged it off.

"She gave me a reason to live Bastila, after all we have been through."

Revan moved slowly and grabbed his arm in a fierce grip while she spoke for the last time.

"I love you. Now go." She said and fell back to the deck, Carth cried in anger and pain as he felt for her pulse. It was as absent as the light in her still staring eyes. Bastila bowed her head.

"She is gone Carth, we have to go." She said.

Carth's com-link crackled and the rough voice of a man broke into the private moment. "This is Canderous. What are you doing? This station is falling apart. You have to go now or not at all."

Bastila snatched the device. "We are on the way , get the ship ready for lift off." She ordered and pulled Carth to his feet. "Move captain unless you want to join her in death." She said, unable to hide her panic. The power was really flickering now and the consoles around them were going dead. The gravity generators were starting to fail and the planet below them was slowly sliding into view.

 "You go Bastila, save yourself." He said and she slapped him hard across the face. Her emotions finally won the battle and she seized the man's shoulders.

"Revan died to give us a chance. Is that how you want to remember her? By dying now, what will that achieve; we have a war to win. Now come on." She shouted at him and he nodded slowly. Carth leant down and kissed his love one last time and then turned and ran as finally the klaxons and alarms started to die. The air was getting thin and the station, listing as it neared its doom.

The huge device fell slowly at first and then faster and faster. The black metal of its surface was pitted and scarred by blaster shots and internal explosions. The Republic fleet had withdrawn out of range of any catastrophic detonation. They had long since stopped hitting it, content to let the station destroy itself as it fell towards its power source. The Republic ships sat in space, their hulls scored and damaged by the battle that had just finished. The wreckage of that battle; Sith and Republic had mingled in the zone between the present location of the ships and the space station. The Republic capital ships were large ships, the largest ship was over five miles long and were heavily armed and armoured. Whilst the Sith relied upon massed guns with a fixed firing arc, the Republic used fewer guns but had much greater arcs of fire. Their guns were heavier and slower to fire but were more damaging. On the largest of these ships, the Republic flagship, the commander of the Third Republic Battlefleet stood and watched  as the Star Forge neared it's 4 nemesis. The commander was a tall women with the bars of a vice-admiral on her shoulder. She had greying-brown hair and watchful blue eyes deep set into her face. She was evidently an experienced soldier, as her age would suggest but looked every bit as vigorous as a person half her age. Beside her was a short figure in the robes of a Jedi master. Although only four foot tall, he had authority and power about him as he nodded up at the admiral.

"Sense a movement in the force I do. One of great power has fallen it seems."  He said and the admiral nodded.

"I can only hope that it is the darklord, Master Vandar." She said, fretting slightly.

 "To be certain of this I cannot but I think that we have achieved a victory."

A tall captain joined the two. He saluted the two. "Admiral, are you sure we are out of range of the station's destruction?" He asked and the fleet commander turned to him.

"We shall have to wait and see. Ready all shields to maximum power and cut engines captain," she ordered and the man withdrew to order his commanders wishes.

The two leaders watched as the station finally lost all of its integrity and plunged down headlong into the ball of energy. The was a flash like a photon flare, a rush of power and a burst of radiation as the station crashed into the glowing ball of energy. There was a succession of explosions that had nothing to do with air or fire. Flashes like a thousand small supernovas flickered and then with a blinding flash a shockwave of energy shot outwards. The fighters had long withdrawn to the hanger bays or they would now have been swept aside like leaves before a fire storm. The capital ships stood against the gale for what seemed an eternity before the haze of energy faded leaving the endless horizon before them. The Star Forge, the sphere of what must have been antimatter and the wreckage was gone, disintegrated by the power of the blast and by the annihilation of matter at the core of the explosion.

On the bridge, all stood stunned at the fury of the blast. They seemed horrified at such power, even the three Jedi who were at the rear of the bridge. They had been the survivors of those who had boarded the Star Forge but Revan had sent away before she had confronted Malak. Many had refused and had fought in the final battle on the command deck. All of those had died there. The admiral closed her eyes as the captain appeared again, hesitantly.

"Admiral Dodonna, report from Captain Jarik. He says that the _White Nova_ had a hull breach and the shields are out of action."

"Have him contain it and I want damage reports from every ship. I also want repairs started to make the ships moveable, even to get back to dock." She said and the captain saluted. He was a bald man with a scar down from his right eye to his chin. That eye was white, suggesting blindness had resulted from the old injury.

As he strode away, Vandar looked up at the Republic admiral. "You feel for their loss do you not? The loss of the _Ebon Hawk_ and its crew." He intoned and even he bowed his head.

"They did what we could not have done otherwise." She said and stared out as an excited lieutenant ran up to her.

"Admiral, a priority message from the _Ebon Hawk_." He said and the officer's head snapped up to look at the man.

"Patch it through lieutenant and prepare to move if needed." She said and the man signalled and the holo-generator before the admiral illuminated. The image was very scratchy and it was clear that the machine had been damaged, like the man in view. It did not take an expert to see that he was hurt mentally as well as physically. Nevertheless, he held himself up and saluted.

 "Admiral Dodonna, the Ebon Hawk requests immediate docking." He said and the Republic naval officer nodded.

"I thought you had been lost to us Carth. It is good to hear you again."

 "We almost were lost. Engines are crippled, shields lost and we have a small breach. I think we have an hour of emergency air left. I will say though, whoever built this ship built it well."

"Can you give us a location? We are sending in a cruiser to pick you up." She signalled to the captain who relayed the orders to the fleet.

"Coordinates transmitting now." Carth said and Dodonna nodded as they were received and passed on to the _Vengeance_, a heavy cruiser.

"Excellent, the _Vengeance_ will pick you up soon Carth. Then I would like a full debriefing with you."

"Understood admiral. We will wait for that moment." He said and the image faded.

Vandar grimaced slightly. "Much anguish in his heart I sense. Fear as to what happened on the Star Forge I do." He said and the vice-admiral nodded her agreement.

"Maybe an old friend will help him." Dodonna chuckled as one of her ships broke formation.

The heavy cruiser glided through space; now that the _Ebon Hawk_ had been recovered it was heading at speed back to the main fleet. In the main docking bay of the _Vengeance_, amidst the fighters and usual junk that characterised a docking bay, the ship was gently moved in by a tractor beam through the first set of airlock doors. There were the usual two of them which allowed one part of the docking entrance to be pressurised before moving it into the main docking bay. This had evidently been developed to allow people access to the bay even when ships were docking rather than having to leave. The Ebon Hawk looked like it had been the target of every asteroid in the galaxy but had somehow survived. It was battered but was still strong and sturdy as it was lowered to the deck. On the bridge of the ship, Carth undid his safety harness and stood. The interior of the bridge was even more damaged than the rest of the ship and the systems were fired and sparking. He looked to where Bastila was trying to undo her belt but seemed too nervous to keep her hands straight. Carth leaned over and helped her up. She looked at him a little dazedly.

"I am quite alright Carth. I do not need to be watched like a child." She said, but nearly fell backwards, and the captain held her steady and helped her out into the crew area.

"You'll be alright Bastila, that was quite a wild ride." He said, more shaken than he let on. She smiled slightly.

"I guess I am not used to flying in a star ship in a battle." She said and Carth chuckled as their other companions were trying to stand. All except for two of them looked a little shaken. One was a tall man who was obviously a soldier with short grey hair who looked as fresh as he had at the start of this day. The other was a tall dark skinned man with the robes of a Jedi and a lightsaber at his side. He looked mildly amused at what was happening around him. Carth's other companions were two droids, one small and one man sized. The man sized one was red coloured and had glowing red eyes and had a blaster rifle strapped to its back. There was also a giant shaggy creature of about six and a half foot tall who was trying to help a young alien girl to stand. She looked very unsteady and only the giant furry arms were stopping her keeling over onto the deck. The last was another Jedi, this one an alien with only a single collection of hairs growing from the back of its skull. The Jedi was evidently female and she shook her head to clear it as she stood.

Carth nodded to his friends. "We have docked on the _Vengeance_, my old ship ironically. We will then take a transport to the flagship, the _Imperious_. Is everyone alright? He asked and the alien girl snorted. Her skin was a pleasant light blue colour and her head had two long tendril like tails growing down from its back. They were at this moment looped carelessly over her shoulder as though they were always getting in her way. Sometimes they seemed to move of their own volition, a disturbing sight to be sure.

"I take back everything that I said when we landed on that planet Carth. That was some flight." She said and he shrugged.

"And we are lucky to be in one piece. This ship was made to last and that is the only reason we are sill here. That blast could have crippled a destroyer but we were lucky."

"Just try to avoid doing it again." The older Jedi snorted.

"Poor Revan." The alien Jedi said softly, mostly to herself.

Bastila walked over to her. "She did what she had to Juhani. I am sorry that this had to come to pass. We must take the opportunity that she offered us." She said and the Jedi before her bowed her head. There was something catlike about her features and movements. Carth looked like his life had been crushed out of him, like he was a walking corpse with nothing to go on for.

"Come on, we had better go see the admiral." He said with an utter weariness and headed for the ramp. The oldest of the Jedi came over to Bastila.

"It will either destroy him or make him a better man, I cannot decide which." He said and she nodded slowly.

"We will help him where we can but he must live his own life." She added and the man nodded and followed the captain outside and down the ramp into the interior of the _Vengeance_.

A tall naval captain with an unusual uniform of dark blue with black highlights waited for them at the bottom of the boarding ramp. He was a good looking, clean shaven man whose friendly smile was betrayed by his watchful and intense eyes. He was accompanied by a half dozen soldiers and his aide de camp, a younger man in his twenties. His watchful eyes softened as he saw the dazed and limping form of Captain Carth Onasi leaving the ship. His mouth became a wide smile as he walked forward and clapped the startled man on the shoulder.

"Captain Carth Onasi I presume, your fortunes have not improved. I see your flagship is not what it once was." He said happily and Carth returned the broad smile with his own and shook the man's hand.

"Solon you rogue. Good to see you, I see they made you captain here. What is the fleet coming to?" He asked and the man chuckled.

"Better times after that victory Carth but the war is still ahead of us." He said.

"So, have you been looking after the old girl?" Carth asked, waving around the ship and the man smiled.

"I have indeed. She did wonders in the battle, we crushed a Sith Dreadnaught. Can you credit it?" He asked and his friend shook his head.

"Not really, alone?" He asked innocently.

"Well, we did have some help from the _Justice_ I suppose. Captain Harding is a good fellow."

"I remember him. I haven't seen you Solon since, since well I went to relieve Telos." He said and his humour faded. The man nodded.

"I heard what happened, a damn shame. Kareth offered me a full captaincy in the Sith fleet if I joined him but I heard what happened there and I could not bring myself to help those scum. So I stayed here and became captain last year."

"Well, technically I am only a commander but I borrowed the rank of captain." Carth admitted.

"You never could be trusted Onasi." He said happily. "That means you have to salute me."

"What is the Republic coming to?" He asked and turned.

Carth saw his friends had disembarked and led the captain back towards them. They looked up, surprised to see Carth so happy again, those closest to him knew it was a façade.

"My friends, allow me to introduce an old friend from the fleet academy, Captain Julius Solon." He said and the man bowed his head.

"So you would be the heroic saviours of the Republic then?" He asked and smiled. "The admiral has requested you come as soon as possible and where admirals command, mere post captains obey." He said and the crew of the Ebon Hawk smiled slightly, forgetting their loss to his infectious good humour.

"Lead the way, sir." Carth said sardonically and the man barked a laugh.

"It is good to see the art of respect is maintained commander." He said happily and walked alongside Carth. His face became serious again.

"Are you alright Carth? What happened on that station?"

"A very close friend of mine died there. She defeated the darklord but died from her wounds. I feel like I could have saved her."

"So you hurt yourself like you did after Telos do you?" He asked seriously, ignoring the look of anger on his friend's face. "I understand, you might not think I do but you remember Teron?" He asked quietly.

"Your brother?" Carth asked and the captain nodded.

"He was picked up as a prisoner over Ord Mantel. He had being doing covert ops as you remember. His cover was blown and he was captured. The last I heard, he was taken by the Sith. That was eight months ago." He said bleakly.

"Damn Julius, I'm sorry." Carth said and the man smiled thinly.

"So am I Carth, so am I. I know what it means and that is why I begged, bribed and almost mutinied to get this ship here for the fight. You killed Saul Kareth did you not?" He asked and his friend nodded.

"I did. It did not make it easier." He said and Julius nodded.

"It never does. I caught the man who betrayed my brother. One of the ring escaped and identified him. I caught him and threw him off the top of the building he was in. It did not make it better." He sighed. "Anyway, we had best not keep her waiting, I am in trouble enough with her for my last ditch admission to the fleet." He said and walked on to organise the shuttle. Carth watched him go and saw at once what was wrong with himself. He could not let this loss, or any other overcome him. He would survive.

"You okay captain?" The Twi'lek said, appearing beside him.

"I'm fine Mission. He just gave me some valuable advice."

"An old friend?" She probed and he nodded.

"We have known each other since we were ensigns out of the academy. He is a good man and he understands what I have been through. We fought together many times."

"Does he?" She asked and Carth nodded.

"His brother was a covert ops specialist. He just told me he was picked up by the Sith. He has not heard from him in eight months." He said and Mission nodded sadly.

"Terrible. This war must end." She said and Carth grimaced.

"I do not think it has even started. Come on, let's get the launch." He said and the blue Twi'lek followed him onto the shuttle.

Admiral Forn Dodonna sat at her table in her private office. Beside her was Jedi Master Vandar and another Jedi Master. A tall and silver haired man who seemed to have infinite patience and control. His eyes were as blue as sapphire and his plain black robes were stark against his silver hair and the white walls of the room. The other Jedi and even the Admiral seemed to hold him in high regard but he seemed not to notice, his eyes closed, channelling his senses out. The room was a plain white room with little decoration. The rear wall held a wide window whilst to left and right was the bedroom and library of the admiral. Dodonna was evidently not a women to depend on decoration or show, just the most functional items.

The door slid open and a young second lieutenant who was the temporary aide of the vice-admiral saluted.

"Admiral, the party of the Ebon Hawk." He said and Dodonna nodded.

"You may go lieutenant." She said. The man saluted and only just suppressed his surprise when the third Jedi's eyes suddenly snapped open. The officer left the room and the three leaders stood as the two people entered the room.

Bastila walked forward and bowed deeply to Vandar and then to the other Jedi, in total surprise at his sudden appearance. Carth saluted the admiral and Jedi collectively and then sat as the others did so. Dodonna smiled at the two.

"Welcome Bastila, Commander Onasi. You both know Master Vandar and I already but I believe the commander has not met Jedi Master Aetius Perinard. The man bowed his head and Bastila timidly asked her next question as though she expected a rebuke.

"Master Aetius, may I ask what one of the High Council is doing here?" She asked and the man smiled and pushed his shoulder length silver hair back.

"You may ask child. This matter of the Star Forge was as great importance to our order as to the Republic. I came to see if my assistance was needed. As it was I arrived to late to affect the course of the battle but hopefully I can assist in the aftermath." His voice was utterly calm but also humane and compassionate. It commanded absolute authority but was not arrogant or domineering.

"And we appreciate your presence Master Aetius." Dodonna said and looked to the two before her.

"And where is Revan? We heard that she was there, she sent back many of the Jedi while she went on."

Carth bowed his head. "Revan is dead. She died from the wounds inflicted in the battle with Malak."

"And Malak has not survived?" Vandar asked. Carth opened his mouth but Aetius beat him to it.

"He has not, I felt as much when I arrived. So she died defeating the evil she helped create. A redemption of her acts both past and present." He said and Carth glared at him. The Jedi was not fazed in the least.

"She made her choice master." Bastila said sadly. "She would not let us try to carry her away. She knew perhaps that we would not live if we were burdened by her or that she would die regardless of our assistance." She said.

Aetius looked at Carth's valiant attempt to hold himself straight.

"You loved her did you not commander? And she you?" He asked softly and the commander nodded, knowing that it was not hard to see.

"You will be surprised then when I say I do not disapprove." He said and there was silence as all in the room looked at the silver haired master.

"Master, the code-" Bastila began half-heartedly but Aetius held up his hand and she stopped.

"I know the code child, I know it better than you can imagine. I also know that there are times when the code can not help. Revan was always an interesting case. Even as a child, she held great strength but also great vulnerability in herself. No amount of recital of the code would convince her to change her mind. If perhaps, she had had a strong force to look to she may have chosen the path of temperance. Alas it was not so. Love is not evil, we all know this, but it does complicate matters. Revan was always vulnerable to the darkness of her heart and never more so then when her true identity was revealed." He looked over at Vandar who shifted slightly. The non-Jedi in the room caught the look but kept it to themselves.

"To find that she had been living a lie is something none of us can imagine. I think that without the support of her friends and perhaps the affection she shared for the commander, we may have had another darklord in the place of Malak. Sometimes good deeds come from the smallest chances, from the breaking of rules." He sat back and there was a collection of nods at the table.

"Leaving that point aside for the moment." Dodonna said, after a long pause. "This has been the first great victory of the Republic in this war. The war is not over, it has barely started but we have gained an edge."

"In the battle of nations, the path can only be slow." Vandar said and bowed his head.

"And we thank you two. On behalf of the Republic and with the support of the Jedi Order, we thank you for your assistance in this matter." Dodonna said and the two heroes nodded.

"Thankyou for your words admiral." Carth said. "We did it as a team and we could not have done this alone."

"Then you have our thanks. Much fighting lays ahead of us yet. What will you do now?" She asked and Carth breathed in.

"Permission to take two weeks leave admiral. Then, I will report for duty with the fleet." He said and she nodded.

"Nothing is going to happen for a while. The request is granted provided you stay on Coruscant. If we need you, you must be on hand." She said and he nodded.

"I will do that admiral." He said and Dodonna looked to Bastila.

"And you Jedi Bastila?" She asked politely and the younger Jedi looked to Aetius who smiled slightly.

"Although the demands of this war are great, we will match the admiral's offer. With the same condition. You have earned it Bastila. I will say now that I am glad that you have returned to the light."

She bowed her head at the remembrance of her weakness. "Revan saw it in herself to forgive me, to let me back despite my allegiance. I hope that others will forgive me also." She said and Aetius nodded his head slowly.

"The hard lesson is the one best learnt and most remembered. Remember that no one is infallible Bastila, you have gained much wisdom in this time and it will serve you well. When you return to duty we will consider where you are needed most. You will not be forgotten, your brashness has given way to tolerance I hope."

"Thank you master. While I regret my fall, I shall struggle to be deserving of your trust." She said and Dodonna stood.

"Good, we are returning to Coruscant with most of the fleet. You are welcome to stay with us until we land at Alderaan and then take a transport with us on."

"We will do that, it will be a long time before the Hawk is fixed. I will get some people on Coruscant to look at it." Carth said and rose. He saluted and left the room ahead of Bastila who followed.

When the door was closed Dodonna rose and looked to the two Jedi.

"Well, that is over with. If I may be alone, I must write my report for the Grand Admiral." She said and the other two nodded.

"May peace be with you admiral." Aetius said and left the room.

When the room was empty, Dodonna turned and looked out the window to where the blue planet was slowly easing past them as the _Imperious_ accelerated.


	2. Chapter 1

First off, thanks to Prisoner 24601 for her review and for beta reading this chapter. My thanks to you.

Part 1 – Stranger in a Strange Land

Chapter 1

The two men were pleased with their work.

"With the cut from this, we can buy ourself a quiet break." Plat stated and leaned back flashing a toothy smile at his friend.

Shaw,  who was far less optimistic grimaced. "If the company lets us." he muttered and his friend shrugged.

They both had the look of men who were used to fights that involved their fists as much as weapons. There was a certain brutal look about them as they sat in their seats. Both were of indeterminable age with the usual collection of scars, tattoos and tanned skin that was common amongst bounty hunters and smugglers. Not that they were either of these, or rather they were bounty hunters and smugglers for the Republic which made them legal. They wore the uniform of Galcorp, the organisation that did for the Republic, what Czerka did for the Sith. Although officially neutral, the head of Galcorp had made it very clear that he had a firm support for the Republic. There were many however who believed this patriotism was more inspired by money than dedication to the cause. As the largest corporation to support the Republic war effort, the company was allowed to get away with small acts of banditry and smuggling, provided it did not affect the Republic. This was unfortunately used sometimes as an excuse to become freelance privateers, under the protection of the Republic. On the whole, the field members of the company were law abiding people, if only because it was not worth the hassle. The ship these two me were flying was a deceptive engine, part fighter, part transport and part cargo ship, it was equipped to deal with all such situations. The two men were the only crew but their arrangement served them well enough, they had machines to unload cargo and man the defences.

"We are bringing them the normal cargo plus the Czerka power cells we captured." He said and the other man turned to him.

"And remember we are landing on Coruscant, not some deserted spaceport, if they learn we have pirated Czerka goods, we are done for."

"How are they going to know?" Plat asked airily and the man growled.

"If you let it out like before then you could do it at the wrong moment."

"Calm down Shaw. Anyway, we are coming up on Coruscant now. Just an hour or two," he said and the other man grunted.

"And we take an eight percent cut," he stated, Shaw's friend stared at him."

"Our agreement says twelve" Plat argued and the captain waved his protests away.

"Shut up, I know what I am doing. This run is twice as profitable, so we are really getting sixteen percent of normal, and we look good to them. Look all loyal and stuff," He said like he held the revelation of all knowledge.

"You have a sharp mind captain." His friend said and Shaw glanced at him briefly.

"That is why I am captain Plat and not-" He began but suddenly the ship shook and groaned like it was being pressured by an invisible giant hand. The sensors and instruments screeched as the ship rocked and bounced.

"We're under attack!" Shaw shouted but could do nothing but hope the attacker stopped. His last reading, pressure blanked and went out and the captain knew his ship was nearly breaking up.

He reached for the radio switch to destroy the cargo, standard issue on such ships to prevent evidence or loot being captured. As he reached for it, the shaking stopped. Shaw fell back and then clawed his way upright as he heard a crash and a bang from the rear of his ship. He half expected to see enemy ships firing and moving in for the kill but there was only empty space. He slapped Plat in the face to wake him up and stood in a daze. Plat looked around and frowned.

"What the hell was that?" He asked and his captain shrugged but drew a pistol from his side and checked it was charged.

"I don't know Plat." He said and held his gun up as he walked forward.

"Captain?" Plat asked but Shaw waved his voice down.

"I heard a crash before. I'm not taking any chances." He said and Plat nodded as he drew his own weapon.

"Like that time we found the Czerka fool in the hold?" He asked and the captain nodded.

They crept forward out of the bridge and down the passage. The ship did not seem badly damaged and this amazed Shaw, he was sure he was either under attack or facing certain destruction. When no enemy had appeared he had thought it had to be some sort of gravity field. A freak of nature but as he crept forward, he saw this was not true.

There was a figure in the gloom, leaning with one hand on the tunnel to support itself. The ship was shaped like a bone in a way, with two wide triangular sections divided by a long narrow section. The impact had made the passageway between bridge and hold hazy with dust and smoke. Shaw waved his friend's gun down and raised his own, safely out of danger but easy to aim if needed. Plat had a covering position behind him.

"Who's there? Speak." He ordered with more certainty than he felt.

The figure made no sign but then, very slowly fell forwards. It collapsed to its knees and looked to be about to fall more as Shaw ran forward. He set his weapon to stun and kept it levelled at the figure.

When he could get a clear view at the shape, about six foot away, he frowned. It was a woman, a tall and attractive woman with long black hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore a black robe in the cut that suggested a Jedi but appeared to have no weapons. Her head was cut by a vicious blow and was bruised across the right temple. Her left leg had a nasty circular burn mark that looked like it was driven right through the limb. She looked as though she had been in a violent battle as she looked dirtied and had dried blood smeared across her clothes. She stared sightlessly at Shaw and spoke in a pleasant voice that had nothing to do with the current situation.

"Xiden." She said calmly and then fell face first to the deck. Shaw finally recovered from his surprise and edged forward as though the fallen figure would suddenly spring to attack him. He cautiously prodded the prone form with his boot, if it was a Jedi, he wanted to be certain she was unconscious. It was clear that she was out of it. Plat came forward, gun low but ready as Shaw knelt by the women. He felt for a pulse but almost gave up. Finally he felt a weak throb at her throat and saw her breath was coming slowly and calmly. He eyes were closed and she made no movement as he rolled her over.

"Is she dead Shaw?" Plat asked and the man shook his head.

"Not dead, but out of it. Put the gun down, she is not going anywhere." He said and his friend obeyed and holstered the firearm and knelt beside her.

"She's pretty." He said and the other man sniffed.

"If non-humans are your type, sure." He said and the other man frowned.

"Non-human, she looks normal to me." He said and the other man sighed.

"Look at her properly Plat. Look at the ears for a start and the face."

Plat looked closer and saw that her ears were extended and pointed by about two thirds of an inch. He looked at her face and saw it was more delicate and longer than a normal human face.

"Who is she, where did she come from?" Plat asked and Shaw shrugged.

"We did a full scan of the ship before we left Corellia, nothing living on board. We haven't stopped and she doesn't look like the type to stowaway. Not if she just collapses after a bit of turbulence."

"She looks like a Jedi." Plat said and the other man nodded.

"Where's her lightsaber?" He asked in reply.

"Look at that burn on her leg. It was caused by one of them." Plat insisted and Shaw shook his head.

"Could have been anything. Virbro sword maybe."

"They cut, this is straight through."

"That is irrelevant, it does not make her one."

"Well how did she get on board?" Plat asked.

Shaw thought for a moment, looking down at the stranger. "It is no coincidence that we heard that bang the moment she turns up. Something happened and I do not want to speculate." He said and Plat nodded.

"What can we do now? If they find her on board, it will cause trouble, mark my words. What if they know she is on this ship and we turn up without her on board?" He asked and Shaw shrugged.

"Just push her out the airlock I reckon. Take the consequences then and forget her if not. I do not need mysteries on my ship, not after what I have been through to get it."

Plat looked appalled as he looked at the helpless figure. "No, Shaw, we can't do that." He said and his friend frowned.

"Getting soft on me Plat? You had no hesitation when you pushed those men out of the airlock over Tatooine. One at a time so they would know their fate I recall."

"They were mercenaries. They had tried to kill us. She has done nothing to us." He said stubbornly.

"All over a girl Plat? You can get them for five credits in any bar. Besides, she banged up my ship, that's good enough for me." He said and moved forward. Plat stepped forward.

"No Shaw, I will not do this."

"I am the captain and my decision stands." He snapped. "What would you do anyway Plat?"

"When we get to Coruscant, drop her off at the port. Say we picked up a wounded Jedi at a station and brought her along. Do it anonymously and then get out of there. Then we unload the cargo and take a run out to the outer rim."

Shaw sighed finally and shrugged. "Fine, whatever. If it fails, I warn you I will not be best pleased."

Plat nodded and knelt to look at the wounds. The women was unconscious but this could not have been caused by the injuries which were relatively minor. He grimaced, it was not going to be as easy as he had thought to get her off undetected and handed over. He reflected, that the women was lucky that they were not the sort of people who would kill or enslave her. He shrugged and followed his captain back to the bridge. The ship was holding together and he was sure he could get the craft into port.

As they worked feverishly to get power back, the women lay, unmoving and alone.

No matter how many times he saw it, Carth was amazed by Coruscant. It was the hub of the galaxy in more ways than one. The capital of the Republic and among the most populated in the entire galaxy. It was a city that covered the entire planet, only a few special parts were not covered with buildings. It was a three dimensional world with layers of buildings built upon by more and more buildings until it was like an artificial mountain range. The launch headed on from the heavy cruiser _Relentless_, the only ship of the fleet to accompany them so far into the core worlds. All around Coruscant were battleships and stations of the Capital Defence Fleet, a place where aristocratic children were sent to train without the threat of being shot at in a real battle. Carth tried to remember the last time he was here, he figured that it was at the end of the Mandalorian Wars. He turned to Mission who was wide eyed with shock at the sight.

"A damn sight grander than Taris eh Mission?" He said teasingly and she nodded, still in awe of what was before her.

"I never imagined it could be so big." She breathed; "it's like Taris should be."

"I wouldn't go that far; in many places it isn't any better that the crime and corruption of Taris."

Mission looked out but turned back to the commander; "what do you think Carth?"

"It is impressive no matter how many times I see it." He said and then went to sit back down.

Bastila watched him from across the small ship but made no move. She knew how much Revan had cared for him and he had returned it. He was taking the loss hard and the younger Jedi wondered if he could ever be the man he had once been. Perhaps the only thing that kept him alive was the thought of his son returning to him but that was unlikely. Carth caught her eye but looked away as soon as he had. The look of loss on his face could not be hidden. There was a movement beside her and Mission came to sit beside the Jedi. The two rarely spoke or had much contact, the Twi'lek considered the Jedi to be too arrogant and cold whilst Bastila considered her too immature. Now however, the younger alien sat next to Bastila as though she wanted to talk.

"Hey, Bastila, can we talk?" she asked earnestly and the Jedi nodded, slightly surprised. The Twi'lek usually avoided her as a matter of course; now it seemed she wanted to talk. Bastila had always thought it was her duty to her the girl, even if that was not what she wanted.

"Of course Mission, I am here to help." She said and the girl looked slightly nervous of something.

"I am worried about Carth." She said and the Jedi looked at her.

"Carth must live his own life. He will recover eventually." She said, rather harsher than she had meant. The younger girl's face fell slightly and Bastila regretted her sharpness.

"I know Bastila. What's going to happen to us now? To me I mean, I mean Revan's dead, what am I to do now? What can I do?" She asked and the Jedi nodded.

"To tell you the truth Mission, I do not know. I am a Jedi but can I go back? Can I just fall back into the ranks of the order after all of this, after what I did." She said the last words sadly.

"If you are forgiven then I don't see why not. Look at Juhani. You can go back and be a Jedi, it's not like I have much I can do."

"Perhaps. I must say that it was so liberating, being relied on and doing something so important. I do not know if it can be the same again, I am not the same person who left aboard the Endar Spire what seems like years ago." She said these words, forgetting that Mission was next to her. She suddenly jerked out of the daze and looked contrite. "I am sorry to bother you with this. I should not be saying this." She said and her friend shrugged. "As for you Mission, what do you want to do?"

"If it is what you feel, do not lie about it." She said but hurried on before she got a response. "I suppose I have changed as well."

"We have been through a lot Mission. You can stay with us, I assume they will want us to stay in the same building until it is time for us to return to duty."

"Thanks. I suppose that Zaalbar will want to return to Kashyyyk now that his life bond is over. I could go with him, help in case the slavers return. It's either that or go back to being a thief, I don't want that, not now anyway."

"That would indeed be a worthy cause Mission. I wish you well and if you need anything you need only ask."

"I reckon it is for the best. There is nothing else I can really do now except join the military or become a smuggler. Neither really appeals to me. Zaalbar told me he wants it like that and I agree."

"Do you want to stay until we return to service?" Bastila asked and the girl finally nodded.

"Only two weeks, that is good with me."

"You have certainly changed since we first met on Taris. You have matured far beyond your age." The Jedi said and the Twi'lek looked like protesting but held herself when she saw it was a genuine compliment.

"Thanks Bastila; I suppose it has been a worth while for me."

"I think that in time you will grow up and become a much wiser individual" the Jedi said piously.

Mission sighed, she had gone for five minutes without a lecture, it was time. "Whatever you say Bastila;" she said, trying to get away.

The Jedi frowned; "I am pleased to have known you Mission Vao; you have changed much."

"And you aren't as stuck up as you-" She began in reply as she stood up. She suddenly slipped, even though the ship was stable but landed at a crouch. She glared at the Jedi who seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.

"Oh dear Mission, you must learn to control yourself better. You never will amount to anything if you fall over yourself."

"That was not funny. This time I know it was deliberate." She said and the other passengers looked at the confrontation. The Twi'lek blushed and flashed a frown at Bastila. "You have not heard the last of this." She said and the older Jedi smiled.

"I am sure;" she said and sat back.

The ship finally settled down with a hiss of gas. The passengers, crew of the Hawk along with the Jedi and navy officers slowly rose to their feet and headed to the docking ramp. As they exited the ship, Admiral Dodonna took aside Bastila and Carth. The two saluted and she smiled.

"You have two weeks leave but be ready if anything should happen. Commander Onasi, you will report in four days time to the command centre to present your view of the battle and receive further instructions. You, Jedi Bastila, have been asked to attend. I have no doubt the Jedi Council will wish to speak to you. I have a speeder waiting to take you to your accommodation. I believe it is large enough for you all but I guess that you will come and go."

"That will be perfect Admiral, thank you." Carth said and Dodonna nodded.

"Be off then," she said and strode back towards her waiting escort.

Bastila nodded to Carth and pulled him away. "Mission and Zaalbar have decided to go back to Kashyyyk in a few weeks time. I told them it was the right thing to do."

"I think it is as well. Not much else to do here. What about the droids? That HK droid could be dangerous now he it has no master."

"I do not know if you have noticed but it has not deactivated itself on the death of its master. I cannot think why as she was the builder."

"Maybe now the builder is dead, it is not constrained by this anymore." The soldier suggested and she shrugged.

"Perhaps. We should keep an eye on it though."

The eight survivors of the Hawk's crew passed through an endless series of white coloured passages and tunnels. The whole landing complex was nearly a score of miles across and it was fortunate that they had only to walk for a few hundred yards before they discovered their transport. The skies of the capital were filled with the constant flight of innumerable craft over them. The small transport before them was piloted by a man sized droid with silvery-white plating and a smaller head than what befitted its body. It raised a hand in greeting as the crew approached.

"Greetings, I am  G842, protocol droid and currently attached to your service, master." It stated to Carth who nodded.

"Very well, once we are on board, drive on." He said and the droid nodded an affirmation and began the lift off as the last of the crew member's  scrambled aboard.

As the ship lifted off and began its progress towards the administrative heart of the Republic, Carth turned to the grim and uncompromising form of the assassin droid that had ever been ready to fight and destroy.

"HK-47, don't you normally shut down when your present master is killed?" he asked and the droid turned it's red gaze on him. It took all of his self control not for him to turn away from the mechanical but watchful gaze.

"Statement: Revan was my creator. Now she is gone, I am no longer bound by this programming. This was built into my circuits." The mechanical voice intoned.

"So what happens now?" Carth asked and the droid considered.

"Answer: Since I am no longer owned, I shall be obliged to find a new master. Unless you would wish that honour?" It stated and Carth considered. He looked at the droid and considered. He would prefer to have it by his side than roaming freely around Coruscant.

"You do understand that I intend to sell you on when the opportunity arises. If I am to return to the navy, I will have no use of an assassin droid."

"Query: Does that signify that you desire my service? Do you wish me to kill something?" It asked, Carth again wondered how a machine could sound so happy. The droid had more emotion than many people he knew.

"Yes, until I find an owner that can appreciate you talents, you stay with me. But no killing until I say, understood."

"Supplication: Yes master, of course master." It stated, sounding hurt.

Bastila looked over at him shocked. "Are you serious? Becoming the controller of this homicidal machine?" She asked and HK-47 cut in.

"Argument" I have always been loyal meatbag. One word from the master and I will-" Carth interjected.

"Enough. You are not to threaten anybody unless I say so. Understand?" Carth said, feeling the usual mixture of amusement, frustration and worry he had seen in Revan when she had owned the machine.

"Objection: you would reduce me to the level of a subservient tin can?" It asked.

"I thought you were all ready." Mission put in and the droid turned.

"Command: The blue meatbag will be silent." It stated.

"Look, HK-47 has done right by us and it has decided to stay with us until I can find a suitable place for it. The military is always looking for new ways to remove or scout out the enemy."

"Alright, it has been trustworthy so far." Bastila said reluctantly and Carth leaned back, hoping he had done the right thing.

The enclosed vehicle finally began to slow down as it neared a set of tall towers which were presumably guest accommodations. In the distance, the great shapes of the Jedi Temple and the Senate could be seen. On a wide docking platform; about halfway up the massive building the craft was finally set down and the passengers disembarked. The droid moved with them and showed them to an elevator.

"Your room is the second highest level. Room two."

"Thank you." Carth said and walked into the elevator and activated it. The machine slid up the wall of the great tower. At the dizziest height of the building, the machine finally stopped and the door slid open. Finding the door, the eight crew members entered.

The room that they were in was a huge apartment, semi circular in shape and containing several more sleeping rooms than would ever be necessary for the eight companions. Carth entered and looked around before walking through each room. The commander came back to the main room.

"I think this will do us. What about you Bastila? And Jolee and Juhani? You heading back to the temple?" He asked..

"The longer I can avoid the place, the better. I am not really here by choice." Jolee said and Bastila looked at him.

"You are not going to rejoin the order?"

"And what incentive do I have for that hmm?" He said pointedly and Bastila gabbled an inadequate answer.

"It is your duty to return." It was spoken as though the Jedi knew this particular battle was lost.

"Don't lecture me about duty Bastila. I have managed quite well by myself for twenty years alone. I am only staying here for a while and then I might go back to Kashyyyk for a while."

"And what then?" Juhani asked and he shrugged.

"Do what I have wanted to do, wander the galaxy."

"We could still use you in the war." Bastila tried again and he waved it away.

"I dare say you could but I am through with fighting. I hoped after Exar Kun was beaten, I would never have to fight again. I made it so far so thank you, but no."

"What about you Juhani?" Carth asked as the non-Jedi looked around the room.

"I am going to go back to the Order. When you have left Carth, I will go and see what I can do there."

Carth nodded and looked on to the hulking figure of Canderous Ordo, a man who he had never fully trusted, perhaps with good reason.

"And you Mandalorian?" He asked and the man snorted.

"I was an enemy of the Republic, in case you have forgotten. I am going to leave as soon as I am able and see what there is to do around the galaxy."

"More mercenary work?" Carth asked and the man shrugged.

"Watch it fly-boy. I respected Revan because she was a fighter, not a normal Jedi but one who knew what war was. You and all your Republic are such emotional fools. Revan knew that a war cannot be won without blood and sacrifice. Now she is dead, like so many, there is nothing to keep me in the Republic. Perhaps I will go and find what is left of my people."

Carth nodded, despite his anger at his words. "You do what you want Mandalorian. When do you want to leave? Now, tomorrow?" He asked and the older man chuckled.

"Keen to be rid of me are you? I'll leave when I am ready. I got some friends here but I want my cut today." He said.

"What cut?" Carth said.

"You know what I mean soldier boy. Revan got together a considerable sum of credits while we were chasing shadows. I feel that I am entitled to at least a seventh of it."

"That money was never intended to be dolled out like a charity." Carth snapped but the bigger man did not seem fazed.

"No, all kept by you. What use have you all got for money? The Jedi don't use much, you go back to your little fleet and the kid and the Wookiee go back to Kashyyyk. I want something before you kick me out of this little band of brothers." He said, his voice becoming more and more cutting as he went on.

"Fine, I'll give you your fee. I hope you choke on it." He snapped and turned away.

Bastila had watched the conversation and now stopped Carth when he was out of sight.

"Carth, there was no call for that. You might not like him or the fact that he has helped us but he deserves something. If money is what guides him than give it to him and you never need see him again. Or do you want a blood feud with a Mandalorian champion?" She asked and his head bowed.

"I'm sorry Bastila. It is just difficult" he held up his hand "never mind." He said and pushed past her into the main area. The Jedi thought of following but walked out to see the smiling warrior looking at her.

"About time somebody gave the flyboy a good thrashing. So is out gallant captain going to pay me?" He asked and Bastila nodded.

"We give you fifteen thousand credits and all the spare gear we don't need. You go whenever you want." She said and he nodded.

"Good you made him see sense. I would hate to see him hurt and I am sure you wouldn't either would you?" he said and Bastila, who had been walking away rounded on him.

"What are you implying Mandalorian?" She asked, her accent stronger than normal.

"Hey, slow down princess." He said with a lazy smile. "What I would have meant is that you are his friend and you would not want him killed after what you have been through." He said although his eyes were saying something else.

Bastila pushed her hair back. "I apologise. I suppose I am a little on edge still."

"No problem princess. Unless of course there is something between you? Feeling guilty, princess?" He asked, Bastila turned and strode from the room, her fists clenched together.

Canderous chuckled, "At least Revan could take a joke." He said as he turned and laid his pack on a sofa, checking his weapons were intact.

Bastila walked out into the main area of the apartment, her face twisted in anger. She walked to the window and took deep breaths to calm herself.

"Are you alright Bastila?" Came the voice of the Cathar Jedi behind her and she turned and tried to smile away her irritation.

"That Mandalorian is really starting to get to me. I pay him off and all he can do is provoke me." She said and the alien Jedi sighed.

"And you fell for his bait. Remember Bastila, anger leads to the darkside. I know this and so do you. To him it was a joke most likely but to you or I it is far more."

Bastila sighed. "I know Juhani. You are right. Anyway, he is going soon."

"He has been a great help. He got us out of prison on Malak's ship. If not for him, we might never have escaped."

"Or left Taris." Bastila said quietly. "I am sorry Juhani, I am sometimes too brash and forward still. I hope that I might strike a balance between that and tolerance."

"In time we may Bastila." The other Jedi responded and then frowned as they heard a buzzing sound inside the apartment's communication room. They walked in as Carth activated the link.

"This is Commander Carth Onasi." He stated and the holo screen slowly activated to reveal the calm face of Master Aetius Perinard.

"Commander Onasi, good to see you have settled in. Is Jedi Bastila there?"

"I am here master." She said and walked into the viewing arc.

"Although it is your time to rest, we have a small task we would wish you to perform." He said calmly.

Bastila nodded but caution was evident in her voice. "What do you desire master?" She asked and the Jedi Master smiled slightly.

"It does not involve any danger I can assure you. An injured Jedi was presented anonymously to the port officials of the west civilian dock. At least they say it is a Jedi but they have no further proof. I want you to go down there and bring them back to the Jedi Temple. Since you have friends who have not been to this world before, they might appreciate the tour."

"I will go and investigate master." Bastila stated and Aetius nodded.

"May the force be with you." He said and the image faded.

"We only just arrived, now we are doing pickup runs? Why not send a medical team down there?" Carth asked.

"We need to see if it really is a Jedi or not or if they are a threat. Besides, he is right, there is not much to do around here as it is."

"This is going to be some holiday." The soldier muttered and Bastila ignored him.

"You do not have to come Carth. I am sure Mission will come. Zaalbar wants to get some rest."

"I'm coming and that is final." Carth said and Bastila shrugged and went to ask the alien duo. Carth sighed and strapped a small pistol by his side. He stared out over the city and he once again thought of Revan on the Star Forge and he sighed in frustration of the image of her dying was repeated over and over in his mind. He cursed himself again for not coming sooner to help her. He could see two images in her mind only; when she had returned from the Rakatan temple and he had told her of his love for her. He also saw her death, her body, soon to be nothing, not even smoke. He felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around, his hand reaching for his gun but then he saw who it was.

"Jeez Carth, no need to shoot me. I was just saying that we are going." Mission said a little in annoyance but with an undertone of fear.

"I'm sorry Mission, I was just thinking."

"No reason to shoot the messenger. Like I did not know what you were thinking." She muttered and walked away. Carth sighed and walked tiredly towards the door, perhaps he was just not fit to be a soldier anymore. After all he had been through, sometimes it was too much. He had begun his career as a patriotic soldier and he still was in a way. Now however, it was tempered by cynicism and experience. Then he had fought for revenge. Carth wondered what it had gained him and whether he was better for killing Saul Kareth. He decided he was not. Then he had fought against his own will to recover the Star Maps. He looked at his worn fighting clothes and wondered just how different a man he was than he had been ten years, five years or only one year ago. He wondered if he had anything left to fight for, his son was somewhere, whether he would see him again was merely a guess. He figured that a soldier needed something, anything to fight for otherwise there was no point. He shook himself out of his daze as Bastila stepped towards the controls of the speeder. Carth, perhaps remembering an oath he had made, never to let the Jedi drive a speeder again after that 'incident' on Taris, quickly walked forward. Jedi should not be allowed near the controls of vehicles, he resolved.

 "Bastila, let me drive. You show Mission the sights." He said and the Jedi frowned as he hurriedly took the driver's seat.

 "Sure, uh Mission, I'll show you around as we drive." She said and the blue Twi'lek flashed the soldier a grateful smile.

After a brief sightseeing adventure that Mission had tried to look attentive in, the speeder docked at the civilian port. Bastila seemed not to notice that her words had had such an effect and stepped out of the vehicle. She walked briskly across the flat platform towards the imposing shape of the customs and control office for the spaceport. It looked more like a fortress than anything else and indeed, its purpose was to ensure that all arrivals payed their proper dues. Bastila strode forward like she owned the platform until she came to the guard in front of the main doorway. The guard wore the uniform of Galcorp; the company that owned the platform, blue and red. The Jedi nodded imperiously to the man who looked at her warily.

"Can I help you?" He asked suspiciously.

"I have been sent by the Jedi Council to investigate a mysterious stranger who arrived this morning. They said it was possible that she was a Jedi." Bastila said and the man slowly nodded. He thought for a moment as Carth and Mission arrived and then nodded.

"Lieutenant sir, the Jedi are here." He called inside the building and looked back to the three. His gaze lingered on Mission before he deliberately made a show of looking away. Carth held the girl's arm out of sight so that she would not make an issue of this display.

After a half moment, a young Galcorp lieutenant from their military wing came into sight. Like Czerka, the company had its own private security and military force to protect its installations and trade routes. Although not officially recognised by the Republic military, they were nevertheless used often if they were the closest forces. The man wore the red and blue uniform; similar to the Republic outfit so they could be easily distinguished as friend or foe. The lieutenant was a fresh faced man who looked to be in charge of the facility he now exited.

"Greetings master Jedi." He said with enough sincerity not to cause a problem. It was clear that he was not pleased with the situation but his charter forced him into this situation. He flashed a look at Mission but made it a normal glance so that he could not be seen as disapproving. The young Twi'lek sighed, she had hoped that Coruscant would be better than Taris, she had been mistaken.

"Good day. I have come to see the patient." Bastila said in her most convincing tone. The man nodded cautiously.

"Of course master Jedi. If you will follow mw then I will take you to the medical wing of this facility." He said as though he was doing them an extravagant favour.

He turned and walked back through the doors of the customs office leaving the three companions to follow. The building was four stories and its look as a fortress was enhanced by the sight of a half dozen defence lasers on the roof. It was made of a white permacrete that seemed more than able to resist most weapons. Bastila walked through the door into an extravagant lobby which was a wide circular area with views of all four stories. There was a reception desk where an attentive representative sat. To the right was a long series of rooms on either side of a long passageway leading to an elevator at the end. The lieutenant motioned them to follow him to the left and the three adventurers followed him cautiously past the solidly locked doors of the armoury and equipment storage. Boarding the elevator, the four people took the machine to the top floor where they exited into a brighter lit tunnel. To the left and right was the docking control rooms where the Galcorp workers directed the flow of landing and departing traffic. Passing by the circular hole that looked down to the reception the Galcorp lieutenant showed them towards a white painted door which he opened and gestured them inside.

"Speak to Dr Elba, he will show you to the patient." The man said and then vanished again behind them.

Left inside the small ante-room, Mission finally broke the silence. "What have they got against us? I thought the Republic was different from the Sith." She said angrily and Carth shrugged.

"The Republic is different. Galcorp however has many of the same views as Czerka in the equal treatment of non-humans. They don't mind using them as workers but not higher up."

"And why isn't the Republic changing it?" The Twi'lek demanded and Carth sighed.

"It is a political matter. The Republic cannot force Galcorp to do anything." He said wearily. "Besides, there are three hundred and eighty seven board members of Galcorp. Would you hazard a guess at how many of them are not human?" He asked and she sighed.

"None."

"Exactly, what incentive is there for them to change?"

"Carth, we should be moving on." Bastila said and Mission ironically saluted her back.

"Of course my lord." She said and Bastila flashed her a look of irritation before she strode into the facility.

The room was longer than might otherwise have been thought possible by the outward appearance. There was a long and low room with beds in alcoves to either side and a door at the end of the room. The room was very well lit by windows looking out over the traffic of Coruscant. A young women of about twenty looked up from her desk and smiled cautiously.

"Can I help you? If this is about visits then you have to have made an appointment." She said and Carth stepped forward.

"We were sent here by the Jedi, Miss. We were told to talk to Doctor Elba about his patient." He said smoothly and the women nodded with a slight frown.

 "Wait a moment while I get the doctor." She said and strode away until she came to a small door obscured by other patients. She swiftly entered a code and entered the room within. Bastila looked around the room and slowly walked around to the window and gazed out on the massive structures and endless stream of vehicles.

"What can I do for you this day?" Came a voice behind them. Bastila turned and inclined her head slightly.

"Doctor Elba?" She asked and the man nodded.

"Doctor Tarn Elba, master Jedi." He said and bowed slightly. He was an average sized man with a balding head and grey hair. He was evidently quite old as his hair and face suggested but he seemed sturdy and secure on his feet. He looked a pleasant enough man who had seen his fair share of the unexplained and the mysterious. He smiled to Carth and Mission with genuine feeling, putting the young Twi'lek slightly more at ease. The doctor wore a simple white coat with an unfamiliar symbol over the left side of his chest.

"Doctor Elba, we have come to have a look at the suspected Jedi that was delivered to you." Bastila said.

"Of course, of course. Come with me. I do not believe we have met." He said and Bastila nodded.

"I am Bastila Shan of the Jedi Order. This is Commander Carth Onasi and Mission Vao." She said and the man nodded.

"Glad to meet you both." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Shan was it?" He asked and then nodded when she confirmed. "We had a Shan in here just a week or so ago. She is suffering from a rare form of Tyrix Cancer." He said and Bastila looked at him.

"Was her name Helena?" She asked and the man nodded slowly.

"Yes, that was it. Helena Shan. She said that her daughter was a Jedi. I can see the resemblance now. I assume you are her daughter." He said kindly and the Jedi nodded.

"Is she still here?" She asked, quite forgetting her mission.

"No alas. This is just for those injured in space or who need isolation and quarantine. She was going to another facility in the main city. I can dig out the record if you wish." He said and she nodded quickly.

"I would like that doctor." She said quickly and he smiled.

"She spoke quite highly of you so she did. Unfortunately there is little time left for her." He said sadly and the Jedi frowned.

"Is there no cure?" She asked and he shook his head.

"There are ways to prevent it taking hold but not to cure it forever more is the pity. It is a rare disease that is alien in origin, hence the name. She might last ten years or one. It depends on what happens, the preventions are not proven to work every time." He said and sighed.

"But I suppose you will be wanting to see the mystery herself." He said and motioned them to follow him. On either side of them were people with injuries, some serious and some not. A few had their charts marked with the depressing news that they would not survive whilst some were just waiting to be cleared by the port authorities. As he walked, Doctor Elba spoke of the facility and its purpose.

"It was set up after the super freighter collision about fifteen years ago. There was nowhere to take them because they needed quarantine and so most of them died. This place was set up along with the other docks to be able to cope. You remember that incident?" He asked and Bastila shrugged, too young to remember such an event. Carth however nodded.

"I was in my second year at the academy. We helped clear up some of the mess. They say it was an accident."

"That depends on who you talk to commander." Elba retorted. "I think it was no coincidence that the largest shipment of Galcorp ore in a decade happened to blow up over Coruscant. They never found anything of course but I would not be surprised if a few people had their paws in that disaster." He said and strode onwards.

"So tell us about this patient." Bastila said, sensing the doctor's mind was drifting from the subject again.

"I digress, of course. She is quite a remarkable case, never seen anything like it before in my thirty five years as a doctor and I have seen a few strange things. She was dropped off here anonymously by a pair of men who claim they found her on their ship. That is the first puzzle, how did she get there and why did they drop her off? If they caused the injury then they would want to dispose of the evidence but they seemed genuinely puzzled."

"Perhaps it was a ploy so that they were not suspected. How else could this patient  have got on board?" Carth asked reasonably and Elba shrugged.

"Those two were not the brightest men I have met. Their reasons would only be one dimensional, believe me." He said and Carth nodded.

"So, what about her?"

"That is the real mystery commander. Everything about her is slightly wrong. She was injured but not badly. A wound to the leg which is healing well and a scrape across the temple and forehead. Nothing that can account for her current condition." He held up his hand to stave off the inevitable question. "Her current condition is the most puzzling aspect. When you see her you will understand; she seems to be asleep but it is far deeper than anything I have ever seen. It is almost a coma but her mind is constantly active, unusually so even if she was asleep." He turned to look at them as he neared the large door opposite the entrance. "Her heart rate is ten beats, a minute." He emphasised the last words and the three looked at him and he nodded. "A tenth of the average resting pulse. Of course this varies between species, Twi'leks have a higher and Rodians have a lower for instance."

"So she is not human?" Bastila asked and the man nodded.

"Although on first glance, one would not know the difference. It is very subtle differences that set her apart. Her heart beat and breathing has not changed since she arrived. Not once in nearly six hours." He said in amazement and Carth looked at him.

"I thought that that was impossible." He said and the doctor shrugged.

"For you or me perhaps but evidently not for her. Even in a coma, these things change even rarely. Of course I have not seen her species before so I do not know if it is normal or not."

The doctor reached the door and entered his code and then waved his guests through the door as he closed it behind them.

Before the four was a door to left and right as well as one in front. The room was a sombre grey colour with no external light coming in from the outside. Elba showed them through the door on the right and into a small room with four beds. Only one was occupied and the figure did indeed appear to be sleeping. Carth walked through and then his heart lurched. He gasped slightly as his stomach turned and then he looked again and saw he had been wrong. Although she did bear a passing resemblance to Revan, on closer inspection she was indeed a different person. Just as she looked human from a distance, so had her face reminded him of his love for a half second. Elba nodded and walked over to her.

"I see you have not moved an inch." He said but the women seemed almost frozen in place. Her hands were folded over her stomach and the legs straightened out. Aside from the rise of her chest from the gentle breaths she was taking, she made no sign. Elba looked back to them.

"Nothing we can do can rouse her, we tried the normal things of course and then we tried sub conscious suggestions and mind impulses but she ignored or resisted them all. She is most certainly alive and thinking but in a self imposed exile you might say."

"Any idea when she might wake up?" Carth asked and Elba shrugged.

"It might be in an hour or a year. She seems not to need food or the like, like a hibernating creature. I cannot tell you. Unfortunately, she has to be moved on, we do not have the time or facilities to help her."

"Any ideas on who she is?" Mission asked. Bastila was staring at the figure with a glazed expression but nobody noticed.

"She had very little in terms of personal possessions on her." He said and opened a small box from beside the bed. He pulled out two objects, the first of which was a black pentagon, about an inch from corner to corner and about half that high. It had an unfamiliar symbol on the top. Elba pressed a small catch and it popped open like a hinged box. On the inside lid was a small picture of the women and on the flat bottom was four lines of unfamiliar characters. Elba shrugged.

"It is obviously something personal to be sure but I cannot guess what it is. A gift perhaps or a medal?" He mused.

"I have never seen these characters before." Carth said and looked at them but could not understand them.

"Me neither, I have a top quality translation machine but it cannot recognise anything. The other thing was this." He said and held up the second item. It was a long white tube with a tapered point at one end and a flat end at the other. The whole thing was about five inches long and had a curious ring in the middle. Carth shrugged.

"What is it?"

"I was hoping you might know commander." Elba said. "I cannot make out what it is for but I suppose it is just another mystery."

"What sort of robes are they?" Mission asked and the doctor looked down at the black garment the women wore. They seemed to change colour depending on the light; sometimes midnight blue, sometimes dark green, sometimes grey.

"I personally have not seen them before. The way it changes is like a camouflage suit but this is only doing dark colours. Leaving that aside, look at her face." Elba said and Carth leaned down to peer closer.

The face before him was undeniably beautiful and the slightly alien nature of the face and ears only added to this attraction. He frowned as he saw that her face was covered in a series of tiny, fine white lines across it.

"Lines?" he asked and the man nodded.

"Scars commander. I used a colour identifier to highlight them and there is no doubt that they are scars."

"From what?" Carth asked.

"Burns, electricity burns; most of the rest of her body has them as well. They were quite bad by the look of it, the sort that should not heal like they have."

"But if she can heal such wounds, should she not also be able to use it on her current wounds?"

"Exactly commander. They are almost impossible to distinguish unless you are very close. I almost missed them the first time." Elba admitted and Carth turned to Bastila who had not said a word.

"Are you alright Bastila?" He asked, concerned by the blank look on the younger women's face.

"There is something strange about her." Bastila said and Carth frowned.

"Something bad?" He asked and she eventually shook her head.

"No. I sense no evil in her. That is what is strange, everybody has some darkness in themselves but she has much less than normal."

"Is she a Jedi though?"

"I have never seen her but that means little. There are too many of us to memorise every face. She has the force about her though." She said and closed her eyes. "It surrounds her but there is something strange about it." She said and Carth nodded.

"Could she be a dark Jedi?" He asked and Bastila considered.

"I do not think so. While she has little darkness about her, she also has not the light to replace it. It is as though she is in the middle, neutral." She said as though she did not credit her words.

"Like Jolee Bindo?" Mission asked.

"No, not quite." She said mysteriously and walked forward. "I will try to look into her mind." She said and Carth placed  a hand on her shoulder.

"I am not doubting your skills, but is that wise? I do not pretend to know how these things work but maybe we should let the council do that." He said and Bastila did not bridle at the advice.

"I know but I must know if she is a threat before we let her near the temple." She said resolutely. If she let the force be her eyes she could see the flow of energy about this women. It was as strong as her own and it was clear that she could use and did use her powers.

She knelt down beside the bed and looked at the unmoving figure. She concentrated and calmed herself and then gently moved a hand towards the immobile face of the patient. She tried to calm the women before her and assure her she meant not harm. There was no response from the mind of the woman she was trying to contact. It was as though she was indeed aware of Bastila, but not responding purposefully.

The young Jedi placed a hand on the woman's delicate forehead and had a half second of nothing but the touch of the smooth skin before she sensed something. Suddenly she was assailed by an image, more powerful than any vision. A hundred pictures flashed through her mind but the one that remained was the face of a man with red eyes and a cruel smile. Then the image vanished and she fell backward with a gasp. Mission caught her whilst Elba looked at the machines.

"No increase in anything master Jedi. Not even brain activity."

"Bastila, talk to me." Mission ordered and the Jedi shook her head and sat on the bed next to the patient's. The figure had not moved a muscle as Bastila looked at her two friends.

"I saw a vision, perhaps like I did with Revan. I saw dozens of images and then nothing. She is very much alive though." She said and Carth nodded.

"We should get her back to the Jedi Temple." He said to everyone in the room, inviting comments.

"As long as they agree." Elba said.

"Is she fit to travel?" Bastila asked and the doctor shrugged.

"I have no idea. I do not think that moving her will affect anything however."

"Then that is the best idea." She said and turned to Carth and Mission. "I will go with them to make sure the council understands my thoughts. You could head back to the apartment." She suggested but Carth frowned.

"You do not want us to come?" He asked and Bastila frowned.

"No, I just did not see any reason why you would need to. I have to see the council about this and there is really nothing else to be done. I will not be long."

"I want to come with you." Carth said directly and Bastila blinked.

"Well, I cannot stop you but there is little to do there." Carth nodded.

"Perhaps, I have a friend or two there I would like to look up. I won't get in your way I assure you."

"Fine." Bastila turned back to Elba. "How soon can we have her transferred?"

"An hour?" He asked in return and the Jedi nodded.

"That is good. I will go with them. The commander will follow."

"And I will head back and tell the others what happened." Mission declared and the three others nodded.

The Jedi Temple was impressive, there could be no doubt about that in Carth's mind. He found it strange though that such an imposing structure would belong to an order that preached humility. He smiled as he docked near the transport Bastila had been in and jumped out and walked over to meet her. She smiled as he approached.

"She is being taken inside now. I will go and talk to the council. Do not wait around for me, I can find my own way back."

"Sure. Talk to you later." Carth said and walked out of the docking bay.

He had only been inside the massive structure twice before and he acknowledged now that his desire to go inside was out of a strange sense of curiosity. He walked down into the massive entrance hall and looked around in approval. He had no idea what to do now so he started to walk back to the dock when a voice hailed him.

"Carth? Carth Onasi?" The commander turned to see a familiar face walking towards him. It took him a half second to realise who it was and then he chuckled. "Or should that be lieutenant commander?" The figure asked.

"That is commander now Nantaris." He countered and the other man laughed. The other man was a tall man with a scar down one cheek, short black hair and blue eyes. He had changed a bit in the four and a half years since Carth had last talked to him. He had last met Valiens Nantaris before the two went to join their respective units at the start of the Mandalorian Wars. Nantaris was a Jedi and a good one and Carth could see that he still had the air of authority about him that had made him so unlikely a Jedi. He had never been one for rules and codes when they got in the way of doing his job. He held out his hand and the soldier took it.

"I haven't seen you since the start of the war Valiens. They still keeping you on? I thought the Jedi had sense." He said and the man smiled.

"Not only that but I am now a full Jedi Knight." He said proudly and Carth nodded.

"Crazy, just crazy. Congratulations though."

"Well they had no choice really." He said arrogantly but without his heart in it.

"You always were an arrogant fool. How they put up with you is anyone's guess. I must say I did not recognise you for a moment."

"I only knew it was you because you are the only one who is not a Jedi here. Plus I know you just arrived."

"Arrived with Bastila, she is just seeing the council." Carth responded and the Jedi nodded.

"Bastila eh?" He said with a small smile. He was almost the same as Carth had remembered him, laconic and sardonic without being offensive. "Heard about your little adventures around space. I was off fighting on some rock in the corner of civilisation and only just got back."

"Believe me, you would not have wanted to take my place on that little adventure." Carth said fervently.

He looked at the man who he had met during a training mission when he had been assigned to the young Jedi's master as an escort. The two had been friends until they had departed to go and fight in the wars that were then engulfing the galaxy. They had met again several times, fighting beside one another in the final battles on the outer rim.

"I can believe that." He said as they walked on.

"Valiens, you were with Revan and Malak weren't you?" He asked and the man nodded slowly. His humour was gone, replaced by intent recollection.

"I was indeed with the two of them. I disobeyed the council and went to fight with them. Revan treated me well during the wars and she often praised me for my abilities of stealth and strategy. I was with her party when they boarded Mandalore's ship and I fought to keep her from being overwhelmed. Not that she needed my help." He smiled inwardly. "After that, they made their announcement of continuing the war. Revan offered me a place beside her, a place of power. I finally saw in her what had happened and I refused. She grew angry and threatened me with death but I could not let that persuade me. I told her she could kill me or let me go but either way I was not joining her. I was only one of three Jedi who left of their own free will. The others are dead now I think. The Sith came after me as well." He touched his scarred cheek. He did not say who in the Sith had wanted him dead, he did not need to. He hoped that that spectre of his past was gone forever but he could not be sure.

"He gave you the scar?" Carth asked.

"He did Carth. I searched for Maudin since then but I have found no trace."

"I hear he is still alive."

"Doubtless we will meet again. Anyway, I abandoned the new darklords." Valiens continued.

"What did the council do?" Carth asked.

"They did the wrong thing in my opinion, they made me a Jedi Knight and told me I had learnt an important lesson. I learnt nothing, only that there are some people who can be trusted and others who cannot. I told them that and they just looked at me and told me that they were certain they had made the right decision." He said and sighed.

Carth did not say anything for fear of showing his interest into this attack on the Jedi's decisions. As the silence stretched, he felt he needed to answer. "I am sure they knew what they were doing." He said tactfully and Valiens snorted.

"Do not tell me that you have become tactful Carth. The council makes a lot of decisions, some good and some bad. I just thought this one was wrong."

"You still accepted it." Carth pointed out and the Jedi nodded.

"I did it because I felt that I was still of use. More use than if I was freelance." He flashed a sidelong glance at his friend. "You knew Revan." He stated, not questioned and the commander nodded.

"I knew her when she was different of course. You know what happened?"

"I heard the gist. That is one action that I am not proud to be a Jedi because of. Even the Sith do not do that. It was also the wrong decision."

"She was a better person then when I met her in the war." Carth defended and the man smiled.

"Better towards you, you mean." He said unhelpfully and Carth coughed slightly. "Relax Onasi, she made her choice and I am sorry that she is dead. I feel for you I do. I know you don't need my pity but accept my condolences." He said earnestly and the soldier nodded.

Carth looked at the black haired Jedi; "what do you mean by that?" Carth wanted to know how the man knew about him and Revan.

The man's eyes flashed with amusement; "I am a Jedi Onasi remember? I could read it on you as soon as I said her name. I knew before of course, I have heard the rumours; you were not discreet when you went back to Dantooine."

Carth reddened very slightly; he had been certain that nobody except the crew on the _Ebon Hawk_ knew, he was mistaken. "So the Jedi have made you a spymaster have they?" he asked to cover his embarrassment.

"I don't have a clue about what you mean. I was happy for you, after what happened to your wife."

"Yes. Thank you Nantaris. What are you doing now?" He asked to move the subject on.

"The usual, solving the galaxy's problems, with occasional fighting." He proclaimed as they neared the docking bay.

"So what brings you here? I only heard that Bastila was here with you, not why."

"We found a mysterious force user, dropped off by a freighter crew. She has been transferred to the medical wing I have been told." He said and Nantaris nodded slowly.

"I see, then I had best have a look sometimes. You returning to duty?" Valiens asked and Carth nodded.

"Two weeks I start again. I have a briefing before then to give me a hint."

"A promotion perhaps?" The Jedi asked.

"Dodonna wants me made post captain I think but it has to pass by Delzon and Daguerre. I'll have to see, I am still only officially a commander."

"Could be a tough job convincing those two."

"They are good men and we are lucky to have them. They have the experience in this fleet." Carth said, meaning every word.

"I suppose so."

"I have to be off now, take care of yourself Nantaris and if you want to come over and meet my crew before they scatter than that is fine with me."

"I will consider it. Look after yourself Onasi. My condolences for your wife and for Revan." He said and Carth nodded as he turned back to his speeder.

Bastila Shan saw to the adequate care of the patient and then walked towards the chamber of the Jedi Council. She seemed in two minds about this and alternatively held back and came forward resolutely. To passers by it seemed as though she was limping but none interrupted her halting progress on as she approached the council chambers. She entered and was met by Master Vandar who nodded as she entered.

"Warned of your approach we were Padawan Bastila." He said in the face of her confusion.

"Master, I have delivered the patient to the medical wing." She said and the master nodded.

"Sent her picture we were. Never seen that Jedi have I and the council concurs. You are certain of your words?" He asked gently and Bastila nodded.

"I am master. She has the force about her strongly and I think that until she wakes up she should be allowed to remain." Her face coloured slightly at the forceful suggestion but Vandar nodded.

"Agreed on that we are. I would not turn her out unaided. Come, those members of the council available are here." He said and led her through a door and into a conference room with a large table around which the Jedi masters sat. There was room for twelve but only six were taken. Masters Vandar and Aetius were sitting at the round table. A round  table because there was no head or leader. It was a wide ring so that one might stand in the centre of the circle. Bastila moved in at a wave from Aetius and stood as resolutely as possible.

Aetius began the introductions. "Padawan Bastila." His calm voice perfectly audible anywhere in the room. "Master Vandar is already known to you, as am I. However, you may not have met Master Grelville, head of our facility on Talhare." He said and the man named gave a brisk nod. He looked and even reminded Bastila of Master Vrook from Dantooine with his brusque manner and sardonic voice.. "Next to him is Master Grecian from our outpost on Morlock Four." Master Grecian was a Twi'lek with light blue skin which who looked like an adult version of Mission. She inclined her head serenely.

"Next there is Master Kalis, our head of the archives." He referred to a capable looking man in his forties who nodded a cautious greeting. "Lastly, there is Master Hador." He said and the master named nodded. He was a non-human with white skin and large eyes and a broad body. He was of a little known species named the Hanik, rare but strong in the force.

"Now we are introduced, we may begin." Aetius said. "Firstly, I would like to say that I am pleased that you have returned to the light Padawan. Now perhaps you understand the lure of the darkside better than before."

"The dangers of which are not to be underestimated." Grelville said grimly.

"Masters, I hope that I have learnt wisdom through this troubling experience. I was fortunate to have one with me who was willing to try and redeem me."

"Ah yes, Revan." Grelville said unpleasantly and Vandar looked annoyed at the words.

"Disappointed to hear that one so powerful and who had returned from the darkness had fallen." Grecian said, her basic perfect like Mission.

"It was not really Revan though was it?" Grelville said pointedly.

"She regained her old personality in the end." Vandar said defensively.

"Quite by accident by the sound of it." The man sniped back.

"We knew that that would happen eventually."

"And yet you did it anyway. And in doing so you took a risk that she would return as the Sith Lord she had once been." Hador put in, his voice deep.

"We had no option, we did not realise that her mind still held the key to this war." Vandar said.

"Perhaps other ways could have been considered to find the location of the Star Forge." Aetius said placidly and Vandar sighed.

"What has been done can not be undone." He said and Grelville pressed his point on.

"But the action was dangerous and never had more than a fool's hope of succeeding. It was a shot in the dark and it hit but it may not have. We were playing with fire and we did not get burnt but we should see that this does not happen again."

"Not in the same circumstances again will we be." Vandar said. Bastila tried to remain unnoticed in the argument but finally Grecian looked up at her.

"Masters, this is not a matter that Padawan Bastila needs to hear about. We can discuss it later." She declared and the others nodded their agreement.

"We have studied the images and effects of this patient but I must confess we are as puzzled as you were padawan. Never seen this women before in my life, nor one matching her species." Aetius said and the others nodded their agreement.

"Have you considered that she may be in league with the Sith?" Hador demanded and Bastila nodded nervously.

"I had considered it master but even I can sense no wrongdoing in her. She is not dangerous I am sure but anything further must wait until she is awake surely." She said and Grecian nodded her agreement.

"I agree with Bastila. We cannot make judgements until she can defend herself. Perhaps there is a reasonable explanation for this." She said and Hador nodded.

"Agreed. We thank you padawan for looking into this matter." Hador said as gruffly as ever but he seemed sincere.

"What of you padawan? What will become of you now?" Aetius asked and Bastila bowed slightly.

"I am willing to do the council's bidding of course." She said and Grelville nodded solemnly.

"You have been promised two weeks off and I must keep to that. However, you must not become idle especially after such events as recently occurred." He said and Bastila nodded quickly, eager to avoid the subject.

"The Sith have suffered a defeat, but the war is not over. We have won a victory and not a war and this with help we cannot hope to call on again." Grecian said.

"I am willing to play my role, master." Bastila replied.

"Good, you will attend the meeting with the fleet with Commander Onasi and see what may be required." Grelville commanded and the young Jedi nodded her agreement.

"As you wish master."

"Be off then child." Aetius said and watched as she walked slightly faster than normal from the room. When she was gone, the silver haired master turned to the council members. "I will look at this patient myself." He stated and Grecian nodded.

"And I as well. When she wakes up we shall talk to her and see if this mystery can be unravelled." She rose and bowed to the assembled masters. "I must be returning to my students." She said and left the room.


	3. Chapter 2

Well, I heard somebody wanted to read this, so here it is. Please note, it is not edited, features many grammar mistakes and has a strange plot. I have neither the time, patience or energy to fix this as I am writing other things. Still, leave a review if you like it, or even if you don't, tell me what is done wrong. We learn from our mistakes, that is what makes us human.

You may notice some of the characters have the same name as my other KOTOR story, ignore it. They are different there.

Oh, the conversations are very formal. Read 'False Dawn', that is the better story of mine.

Chapter 2

Bastila entered her apartment and almost walked into the wall that was Canderous who chuckled as she stepped back in surprise.

"Princess, I wondered if you were going to come and say goodbye to me." He said sardonically and she sighed.

"Indeed I did want to say farewell. And to say thankyou for all the help you have given us." She said sincerely and the Mandalorian looked surprised at the sincerity of the words.

"Glad you think so." He grunted in reply. "All my kit is packed and I am leaving in an hour." He said and Bastila nodded.

"I wish you luck Mandalorian." She said and he chuckled.

"I'm sure you do princess."

"Be gone from here Mandalorian." She muttered and he nodded, turning to leave. He was wearing his regular light armour covered by a light cloak and with his sword at his side. The big man slung a pack over his shoulder and stepped into the waiting elevator. Bastila watched him go and then nodded slowly, walking into the apartment.

Mission looked up from the recliner for a moment before returning her gaze to whatever entertainment show she was watching.

"Run into Cantankerous?" she asked, using her name for the Mandalorian mercenary.

"I talked with Canderous yes." Bastila said primly and the Twi'lek shrugged as though she did not want an argument and ignored Bastila until she was out of the door.

Carth was staring moodily out of the window, not seeing anything before him. The young Jedi moved forward to talk but felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to see the old Jedi, Jolee smiling at her slightly.

"He has been like that since he got back. Best to let him be."

"I just have to ask him one thing." Bastila insisted and walked over towards where the soldier was frozen like a statue. She laid a hand on his arm and the head snapped around to look at her. His eyes were strangely emotionless.

"Carth, in the hurry to leave, I never got the place my mother was at from Doctor Elba. Did you manage to get them?"

Carth blinked a few times and the nodded as though trying to remember something obscure from long ago.

"Yes." He finally decided. "I put the coordinates on my map on the table." He said and Bastila walked over and saw the location. She nodded and looked back to see the commander still staring blankly at where she had been standing. It was as though he was asleep with his eyes open.

"Is he going to be alright?" Bastila asked Jolee who had come in to watch the scene.

"I cannot say with certainty. As I said before, he will either become a better person or will be broken by the experience. Do not ask me which."

"So when are you leaving Jolee?" She asked and the old Jedi snorted.

"Eager to be rid of me are you?" He asked but cut in before the younger Jedi could answer him. "Can't you youngsters take a joke?" he asked and then smiled at her.

"As I said, I am leaving with Mission and Zaalbar. Take a ship from somewhere on the way and go back to my wanderings."

"I suppose I cannot persuade you to rejoin the order." The old man chuckled at that.

"I suppose you can't my dear. I made up my mind and have not and will not change it. If I had wanted to, I would have rejoined years ago. No, the Jedi are not for me and I do not have long left to live so I may as well do something useful with myself." He said and Bastila nodded.

"I will be sorry to lose you." She said feelingly and the old man nodded.

"Thanks for the sentiment." He said and strode away. Bastila looked at Juhani who was poking at the inside of her weapon. Bastila joined her by the workbench.

"Are you all right Juhani?" She asked, unconsciously sounding like Revan used to when she had talked with the young Cathar.

The Jedi did not look up from where she was aimlessly poking the inside of her weapon. "I am fine Bastila." She said unconvincingly.

"Are you sure that-" Bastila began but Juhani cut in.

"I said I am fine Bastila." She replied with a slight hiss.

Bastila sighed and turned away sadly. "I was only asking." She said bleakly and walked away.

Juhani stared down at her weapon and then slammed her fist onto the metal bench.

The next morning, Bastila woke early and walked out onto a small balcony overlooking the endless cityscape. She felt the presence behind her before it announced herself.

"Bastila, may we talk?" Juhani said and stepped out to stand beside her.

"Of course Juhani." She replied but knew the reason for this early morning visit.

"I would like to apologise to you for my actions of the last night. I let my frustration and anger show."

"About what Juhani?" Bastila asked, at once both surprised and unsurprised.

"I was thinking about Revan as you might guess. It was with her help that I escaped from slavery and with her she made me redeem myself. With her gone I still blame myself for letting her die alone. If only I had helped her." The alien Jedi trailed off sadly and Bastila laid a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"I know how you feel, I do indeed. I was saved because of her as well and I think that without her this war may have been lost."

Juhani nodded absently. "I am rejoining the Jedi but I do not know why, what do I hope to achieve?" She asked and Bastila frowned.

"You do not wish to stay with us any further?" She asked and Juhani shrugged.

"I do not know, I just do not know. There is only one thing I really want and that is make sure that no more people are sold as slaves like I was. I do not suppose there is much hope of that.

"It is a worthy cause and I do not know why the Jedi Council will not help you."

"But if I pursue this cause my emotions will control me, make me take the wrong decisions."

"But with us you have less chance of falling prey to such dangers than if you were alone." Bastila said and the other Jedi nodded slowly.

"You are right. I want action now but I am not ready, much as I do not wish to say it."

"You have had some bad experiences Juhani, with time and patience you can do what you wish and so much more. Patience now may help you and others in the future." She replied passionately and the Cathar nodded.

"My heart tells me to charge in but my mind tells me that impatience leads to disaster. I will take your advice Bastila."

"The Jedi may be slow but they do get things done. The darkside offers a quick solution but in the end it offers only more problems." She said piously and Juhani nodded.

"But how do you do it Bastila? You seem so calm even after you fell to the darkness and I still cannot get over my one experience." She said a little more emotionally than she would have perhaps liked.

"Do not think that it does not affect me Juhani. The key is to make sure that you only show calm or else someone might take advantage of it. It will take a long time and in truth, I do not think I will be the same person again but that is not a bad thing. I now know better what I must do to avoid the darkness." Bastila said and Juhani nodded.

"Perhaps I have always had trouble concealing my emotions. Thank you Bastila, it is good to know that others can resist. I will try not to fall again."

"We are here if you need us Juhani." The Jedi said and the Cathar nodded. "Do you wish to come with me today? I am visiting my mother as it were and I thought you might want something to do today."

"I would be happy to come if you do not mind." She said but any reply the alien could make was interrupted by a commotion from inside the apartment. Thinking that it was another usual day in the lives of the Ebon Hawk's crew, Bastila stepped inside to confront whatever trouble may be occurring. What she saw inside however was even more unusual than normal.

Carth was smiling and greeting the members of his crew like he had no cares in the world. The other crew was also staring in shock as the commander looked more happy than he had since his last meeting with Revan.

"Bastila, a good morning to you." He said happily and the younger women frowned.

"Are you feeling well Carth?" She asked and the soldier nodded.

"In the circumstances, the best that is possible. I received a message from my son." He said there were murmurs as the crew finally understood his good humour.

"That is good indeed Carth. What did he say?" Bastila probed and the soldier smiled.

"He said he wants to meet with me. I told him that I had to be staying here and he agreed to come and, talk." He said the last word hesitantly. Then he brightened up. "I said I will meet him at the star port on the same day as I meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

"You have to take the good with the bad." Mission put in and Carth nodded.

"Well I feel better because of this. So Bastila, I suppose you are going to find your mother." He said and the Jedi nodded.

"Did you wish to come commander?" She asked calmly and he nodded.

"Yes, if you come with me to meet my son." He replied and Bastila nodded.

"It shall be done."

"Good. I am going to talk to HK and see what he can do." Carth said.

"You mean besides killing people." Mission put in and Zaalbar growled his agreement.

"Comment; I am quite capable of other functions meatbag." The droid appeared from the shadows. It was quite unnerving that it could suddenly emerge from the shadows like that.

"Calm down you homicidal bucket of bolts." Mission replied and the droid could be heard chuckling.

"Comment; The blue creature gives us credit master. May I practice my skills on her?" It pleaded but it did not seem particularly threatening. Mission glared at Carth anyway.

"Can't you keep that maniac under control?" She said and the soldier shrugged.

"HK, remember our little talk? No threatening, killing, maiming or destroying of my friends without my permission. Now, go into standby mode." He said and the droid bowed slightly.

"Supplication; Yes master, I will wait for your orders." It said and Carth realised that his words had a double meaning. He opened his mouth but the fire in the robot's eyes was already dead.

"Damn that droid is annoying." He muttered.

"Frightening too." Juhani said and looked at the amused glances. "You all feel that way, I am just saying it."

"Alright Bastila, let's leave Captain Kill." Mission said and Bastila frowned.

"You want to come with me?" She asked as though she found it difficult to believe.

"No, not really. Me and Zaalbar are going to have a look around the place."

"Zaalbar and I." Bastila automatically corrected and the Twi'lek sighed.

"What ever, you my teacher now?" She asked and the Jedi bristled.

"I cannot say I approve of your troublemaking either." She said briskly and the blue alien rolled her eyes.

"Put it this way, we are going with or without your permission." She said and Zaalbar growled slightly.

"Let them go Bastila." Carth said. "Just don't get into trouble or make me send HK after you." He said but before she could retort, Jolee stepped in helpfully.

"Just you kids be back by bedtime." He said and Mission snorted.

"Real funny old man." She said and dragged Zaalbar with her out of the room.

"We had best get going, it is mid morning already." Juhani said and headed for the door.

The hospital; the South Central Medical Facility, called the SCM was the largest on Coruscant. Like so much of the larger Republic worlds, the amount of care received was tempered by the amount of money the patient possessed. Those with nothing were simply left to die if they could not afford the fees. By contrast, those on the upper levels were much better treated. Carth had found out that Bastila's mother Helena was in the upper third of the building. She had not had the money but Doctor Elba had put in a word with the head of that area, who was a close friend. Therefore she had been given better treatment than she would have received otherwise. The building was a large white collection of pointed cylindrical buildings with a mass of enclosed corridors and passageways running between them. The tops of the buildings even had their own landing pads and traffic control centres. Carth expertly guided their speeder into one of the enclosed bays and jumped out.

The three friends walked out into the high wind of the building's pinnacle and headed to the elevator in the centre of the rooftop. Standing guard was a droid which acknowledged them as they came close.

"Halt, state your name and business." It grated in a mechanical voice.

"Commander Carth Onasi to see Doctor Erich Von Rohe. Docking permit thirty three eighteen." He stated calmly and the droid whirred and clicked.

"Understood, request granted, please proceed to room sixty eight fourteen." It said and Carth strode imperiously past it and into the elevator.

It took only a small amount of time to find the right room, room four on the six hundred and eighty first floor. This floor was about three quarters of the way to the top and the room was evidently the doctor's office. Walking into the wide circular room with rooms branching off at the eight points of the compass, they discovered room four and knocked. A voice called them to enter and the three walked into the room to be faced by a very tall thin man with steel grey hair and sharp eyes. He looked up from his desk and stood.

"Ah, you would be the friend of Doctor Elba yes?" He asked with a curious accent.

"Doctor Von Rohe?" Bastila asked and he nodded.

"Doctor Erich Von Rohe, formally surgeon general of Taris before it was destroyed. I was at a meeting on a nearby world. I had not been popular with the Sith there as you can imagine and I left before they could find a reason to arrest me. I hear you were all on Taris." He said and Carth nodded.

"We escaped the blockade." He said.

Von Rohe considered. "It is a pity that more did not live yes?" He asked and then focused again.

"Anyway, you will want to know about your mother. Come with me." He said and gestured them to go out the door. "She is in the best care I could give her, she had money but not enough to warrant much. However, since she was sent here by Doctor Elba and is a relation to a Jedi, I was ready to stomach the cost. I have a high regard for your order and have done since I was a mere apprentice in the last Sith War." He said as he lead them to the elevator and waited as it came. Bastila stepped forward.

"Doctor Von Rohe, I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. We will of course reimburse you for your trouble." She said but the man shook his head.

"You will not pay me a damn thing." He said. "There is another reason why I shouldered the cost. I always have maintained that the terminally ill should be looked after to help them go in some comfort at least." He said.

The air around him was suddenly silent and chilly. Bastila swallowed.

"So there is no hope?" She asked haltingly and the doctor looked at her and shook his head.

"I am afraid not Ms Shan. Tyrix Cancer is very rare and thankfully not easily contracted. However, it is invariably fatal, many times the patient asks to be given peace before they lose all sense of themself." He said and Bastila closed her eyes and sighed, trying to contain herself.

"How far advanced is it?" She asked and the doctor frowned.

"She may last a week before she starts to feel the worst effects."

"Doctor Elba said that there were preventions that could be used." Carth put in.

"Unfortunately commander, they are not cures, only extensions of life. And eventually they become resistant, as has happened here. She has been treated as such for many years and the effects are shorter and shorter lived. Eventually they will not work at all and I can only last for so long."

"I see." Bastila said quietly as the elevator stopped several levels below and she followed the doctor out.

"Bastila, we will wait outside." Juhani said and her friend nodded absently and walked in. Von Rohe waited with them outside. Carth looked at the man.

"Thank you for all you have done doctor. And thank you for being honest." He said and the man nodded.

"It feels so bad not being able to help but it is my duty to be truthful."

"Like being a soldier." Carth said and the man chuckled.

"There is a difference commander. You win the great victories of the Republic and I patch up those who are left. I for one hope for no more great victories of the Republic if they are bought with such loss."

"They are better than defeat though."

"I suppose so commander, I suppose so." He said and sat back.

Bastila heard nothing of this conversation as she entered the room which was a small and unadorned and held a single bed and a window. On the bed was a women who looked terribly old. Bastila could not believe that her mother had aged so much in just the two months since they had met. Her mother looked much older and fragile than before, the constant beep of machines reminded the Jedi that it would not be long before her mother was gone. Helena looked up and smiled slightly.

"Bastila, my daughter. I knew you would come in the end." She said. "Forgive me if I do not stand, I cannot seem to move that well." She said and sighed.

"Mother, you will be alright." Bastila said hopelessly and Helena smiled in reply.

"Never good at lying were you. I know what the doctor told you even if he has not said. I only wanted to see you again."

"You will be alright. We will find a way mother."

"No Bastila. I feel it in myself. It has got worse recently and now I do not believe I will live out this week." She said and feebly raised a hand to Bastila's objections. "I know young one. I know. All I have had is the holocron and the memory of you to live for. Now I have both." She said and Bastila sat beside her.

"I wish I could help you." She said sadly.

"You have helped me Bastila. You have made me a happier person despite this. It is good to meet you again, even now at the end."

"You can live on mother. I can pay for some more of the-" She began but Helena waved her words away.

"No, I only waited for you. It is too late for me. Remember me but do not feel bad for things past and present. Things turned out for the best my daughter."

"No mother, do not do this." Bastila pleaded but Helena lay back.

"I love you Bastila." She said and closed her eyes.

Almost immediately the machines beside her started to flash with light. Von Rohe ran in and saw what was happening. He moved towards a cabinet but Bastila gripped his arm tightly.

"Leave her, she wanted it this way." She said softly and Von Rohe looked at her in puzzlement.

"Let me go, we can still save her."

"Save what doctor. A life that is ended, some things end, you know this. It is the way she wanted it, to end on a more pleasant note than might have otherwise occurred."

The machines were slowly going dead and Von Rohe looked at the young Jedi and nodded.

"If that is what she wanted and you are sure. I hate to do it but perhaps you were right."

Bastila knew she was dead and she sighed like a general walking from the field of defeat. She walked out into the corridor where the two had long ago guessed what had happened.

"Bastila, do not let your emotions guide you, remember the code." Juhani put in and the other Jedi turned and slammed her fist into the wall, denting the plaster like substance.

"Damn the code and damn all the Jedi." She shouted and turned and stalked towards the elevator.

Juhani looked shocked at the anger and looked to Von Rohe who shrugged.

"You can guess what happened I think. She will get over it." He said and Carth shrugged.

"I am sure she will doctor. However, she is also a Jedi so we must stop her hurting herself or others."

"Well good luck commander. I hope never to meet you in my official capacity." He said feelingly and strode back inside the small room to write his report.

"And we had best get after her." Carth sighed and walked slowly towards the elevator.

Bastila was sitting on the thin strip of permacrete that formed the barrier with the endless drop. She sat with legs crossed and eyes closed, concentrating intently. She knew who was approaching before they spoke and she nodded slowly.

"It is alright Carth. I came here to make sure I did nothing else with my anger. It is anger at myself but it is passing. It was what she wanted and there was nothing I could do."

Carth said nothing and Bastila sighed.

"Would you have done anything else in the circumstances. If the Jedi want me to be an emotionless machine then they will be disappointed. I am myself and nobody will change that." She said firmly.

"I do not want to change you Bastila. I was just worried you might do something irrational."

"No Carth. You do not need to fear that, that is certain. I just needed to calm myself."

"Do you want to come down from there?" Carth asked, wincing as the closeness of the Jedi to a drop that did not do the word 'deep' justice.

Bastila nodded and jumped back down the eight feet to the ground where Carth was standing.

"Thank you Carth." She said feelingly and he shrugged.

"I did nothing but come and make sure you were alright."

"Then thank you for your concern. Let us return home, I will meditate on this and other matters tonight." She said and slowly walked back to their speeder. Carth began to see in the younger Jedi that she had changed since they had first met. Her arrogant and pompous self had slowly been pulled away from her to leave her a better person. Although she appeared more vulnerable, in many ways her spirit was stronger than before. Carth had himself wondered what she would have done had this incident occurred just five months before, after the escape from Taris. Another thing the soldier came to realise is how protective of the Jedi he was. She was almost young enough to be his daughter and he found that, despite their verbal duelling, he felt responsible for her in a way he could not fathom.

He shrugged the thoughts away and walked to join his friends.

Fleet Command was based in two places on Coruscant; an orbital station and a massive building near to the Senate building and the Republic Monument of Heroes. This day, Commander Carth Onasi would be going to the building which was almost a miniature city of it's own. He had realised the night before that he did not possess an official dress uniform and had had to acquire one with great rapidity. Now he dressed in the dark blue and black uniform of a Republic Commander and set his peaked cap under his arm. He turned from the mirror to see several of his crew looking at him in amusement. Mission in particular was barely hiding her laughter.

"What is so amusing Ms Vao?" Carth said crisply, his military voice returning after years of disuse.

"Nothing commander." She replied mockingly. "Just, I have never seen you in uniform before." She said and he nodded.

"Well, I have been out of sight and mind of the navy for a half year. I suppose wearing a Republic officer's uniform would not have gone down well on some places we visited."

"This is a fact." Bastila said, emerging from her room.

"And you look the same as ever." Mission said and Bastila sighed.

"So it may appear to your eyes young one." She said and the Twi'lek glowered at the words.

"Come Bastila, do not irritate her." He said and the Jedi eventually looked away.

"We will be back before we go down to the dock." Bastila said and left the room.

When they were gone Zaalbar growled to Mission who laughed.

"I would not be surprised Big Z." She said and sat back to watch the entertainment machine.

The building which housed Fleet Command was virtually unique in that it was the only military building on the surface of Coruscant. The headquarters of the Republic military was set on a huge circular platform over twenty miles wide. This had to accommodate for the fact that the building itself was not only tall but wide in area as well. It was genuinely outfitted as a fortress and any visitor could hardly miss the importance of the endless ranks of heavy defence lasers and hanger bays that had enough fire to cripple an orbiting fleet. There were no speeders or other craft that were not military allowed inside the base because of the fears of sabotage. All vehicles were set down in a vast area before the gates. Furthermore, the whole platform was completely separate from the rest of the endless city. The only way across was to land in the designated places or be destroyed. Carth landed the ship on instructions from the command towers and walked briskly across the smooth metal platform. Bastila was slightly intrigued at the way his military authority retuned after so long.

The commander marched up to the doors and saluted the two sentries who nervously asked him his business.

"Commander Carth Onasi, to see the Joint Chiefs of Staff." He said firmly and the guard transmitted the intentions. After a few minutes he saluted again.

"Go right in sir. They are waiting for you in the upper command centre." He said and Carth raised his chin and stalked past the two soldiers into the main entrance room of the navy headquarters. Bastila got little time to look at the impressive marble room with the many corridors that led off in every direction. Carth seemed to know exactly where he was going as he walked along a passageway and into an elevator which he set without thought and stood back. After a few moments, the lift stopped and the commander strode out into an impressive hallway which lead to a wide circular anti-room and a set of great double doors.

Carth stopped as he saw the figure waiting for him. He frowned and then saluted.

"Captain Solon." He said and the man smiled.

"Good to see you in uniform Carth. At ease man, we are not before the staff at the moment." He said and Carth shook hands with his friend.

"What are you doing here Julius?" He asked and Solon winked.

"I am here in case I am needed. I will say no more for now, you will find out soon enough." He said meaningfully and the commander nodded.

"Then I will not ask. I know you met Padawan Bastila but now it is in slightly better circumstances." He said and Bastila bowed her head slightly.

"Charmed Ms Shan." He said and looked back to Carth. "You staying on?" He asked and Carth nodded slowly.

"Unless they have me doing patrol duty in the outer rim I will stay."

"Glad to hear that." Solon said and then turned as the door opened and a dignified lieutenant saluted.

"Commander Onasi sir, the council would like to talk with you. Captain Solon, Jedi Bastila, please to be remaining in this room." He said and Carth returned the salute and walked inside.

Inside the door was the second most important body of people in the Republic. Only the Supreme Chancellor's Council held more importance than the combined heads of the Republic military.

The room was large and high with a great window behind the seated leaders that shadowed them but made anyone before them perfectly visible. The room was perhaps twenty yards across with a rich and almost dark feel about the ornate columns and red velvet curtains that lined the room. Paintings on old fashioned canvas and displays of old uniforms and weapons made this undoubtedly a room with history. It was the men and women that sat before Carth that really gave this room importance.

Carth strode to the centre of the room and stood at attention before the assembled military commanders. There were seven altogether, three to left and right and the central chair which was almost like a throne for a king. Carth was awed by the power of the room, he had never met more than one of these people before and never in such a setting. He was also aware of the assault droids and automated gun turrets that never stopped targeting him.

Slowly, the man at the head of the chair stood. He looked the very image of a long serving professional soldier with his fierce blue eyes, his commanding posture and iron grey hair. He wore the uniform of a Republic Grand Admiral. There was only one man who had such an honour, indeed there was only one man in the last century to have that honour and now he stood like a colossus before him.

"Commander Onasi, I see that you are here as requested. I have heard a great deal of your many exploits and are impressed by them. However, let me introduce the others here." The man said and named each person.

Carth looked at the seven faces. To his front was Grand Admiral Philippe Daguerre, the most powerful military officer in the entire Republic. He was a man whose duty, dedication and skill had helped him rise from junior lieutenant in the war of Exar Kun to be head of the entire Republic military. His victories were too numerous to be listed and his defeats too few to damage him. He was a man of incredible willpower and inner strength. He was over seventy but Carth could not see anything weak in the man who was respected and admired throughout the Republic. To the left of the Grand Admiral was his second in command; the head of the Republic navy and a full admiral. His name was Admiral Millet Delzon and he was much in the same mould as his chief. Slightly younger but no less competent, he was clearly the man who would replace the Grand Admiral when he died. To his left was Admiral Forn Dodonna, the second in command of the navy and a good soldier although many doubted her skills as an administrator and her true ability as an overall commander. Next to her was a women that nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of. Captain Nedos Zelmya was head of Republic military intelligence, a job she prosecuted with great vigour and skill. She was tall and attractive but nobody was brave enough to try anything with her after the last time when the offending man had ended up with a very sharp knife just inches from his neck. She had a cutting voice and an intelligence that was famous wherever she went. She wore a uniform that was disturbingly similar to that of a Sith intelligence officer which was perhaps and indication of her views and techniques.

To the right of Daguerre was the head of the Republic army; General Heinrich Von Stratten. A full general was a rare thing but the general was certainly a rare man, a soldier known for his ruthless tactics and charismatic leadership he had made the Republic army into a worthy force in less than five years. Now, constant battles with the Sith had reduced its quality but the spirit and numbers of the army was undimmed. To his right was his second in command, General Andra Platov. A man not from the core words but from the distant world of Taskmet, he was darker in skin tone than the others but was every bit as imposing. A master of lightning attacks and solid defences, he was a worthy second in command for his chief. Last of all was a man who was rarely spoken of and then rarely with any love. Alban Sabastiani was both the surgeon general and the quartermaster general, two posts which did not receive the greatest respect. He was a thin man who had none of the charisma of the other six but had a cold and logical brain.

Daguerre nodded as the introductions were finished and he sat back and let the shadows mask his face.

"Good, now Commander Onasi. After your brief adventure and exile, it is good to see you in the uniform again."

"It is my pleasure sir." He said and Daguerre grunted.

"No doubt. Now commander, I understand that a lot has happened and that it is entirely your decision. Are you going to continue in the Republic's armed forces?" He asked directly.

"Sir, I have little left but my duty and honour. Both push me towards the fleet you might say. I shall accept if there is a posting for me." He said. Daguerre sat back and Delzon leaned forward.

"You leadership skills have improved and though you have had little active service for a half year and only scattered commands before that, your actions have shown you to be a man who is deserving of notice."

"Yes sir." Carth replied.

"Despite what you might think commander, the recent victory over the Sith has changed little in the general political situation." Daguerre said, leaning forward once more like a judge looking down on the accused. "Although your heroics at the battle were commendable, they were hardly controlled. We won that battle but we did it with help we cannot count on again. Namely, Malak was the enemy. In many ways, I relished him as the foe because he was predictable. His troops were fierce, their equipment good and their leaders adequate but predictable. And predictability is a terrible sin for a commander. So we waited for the opportunity to strike and did so. Personally I would not have minded if he survived because he did more damage to their cause then we could have. Now, the Sith will be weakened and not destroyed. They will have a new leader eventually and they may be better or worse. We can only wait and see in that regard."

"Sir, should we not push on now we have them on the run?" Carth asked and then cursed himself for giving advice to a Grand Admiral. His commander chose to humour him.

"The military situation has not changed commander. We defeated a fleet but it was a fleet we never counted on fighting in the first place. The Sith will rebuild their fleet and we can only wait for this. As for pursuit? Logical and correct perhaps but it has been denied us. The Supreme Chancellor has been forced to bow to pressure and stop us from launching a major counter strike. Our allies and worlds of the Republic are unwilling to commit troops into what they see as a blind thrust into enemy space. If I had my way commander, I would have led the first and second battlefleets to destroy the Sith."

Carth was surprised by the words. "Yes sir." He said automatically and Delzon nodded.

"All this means is that the war is just heating up. We need time to recoup losses from the war and so do they. There will be perhaps a time of peace but it will be a fool's peace."

"And in this war commander, leaders die. We shall need men to take their place." Daguerre said. "You are familiar with the _Retribution_?" He asked and Carth nodded.

"Captain Harper's ship sir." He said and Daguerre nodded.

"Not anymore commander. Harper was killed in the battle near the Star Forge and it needs a captain. You need a ship captain." He said the last word meaningfully and it took the solider a few seconds to realise the implications of the words.

"Captain sir?" He asked and Delzon nodded.

"The _Retribution_ is a good ship Captain Onasi. A Severance Class light cruiser with prototype engines designed by our allies. They could use a good man in charge."

"I am honoured sir. But I have little experience with such a command." He protested.

"You will pick it up quickly but you are right. Therefore, you should be grouped with an experienced man who knows all the tricks. Lieutenant, send in Captain Solon." Delzon ordered and the door opened and an almost serious Julius Solon entered the room.

"Captain Solon." Daguerre said as the captain saluted. "Are you willing to be brigaded with Captain Onasi as he learns the trade of being a post captain?" He asked and Solon nodded.

"I am sir, as I found it to be of great use when I was first raised to this rank" He replied.

"Then it is so established. Captain Onasi, you will rendezvous with your ship in six days time. You will receive your orders then. Captain Solon is in charge of the subgroup which includes the heavy cruiser _Vengeance_, your ship commander and two destroyers with fighter support. "

Carth saluted so hard that the floor creaked. "Understood sir. Thank you." He said and waited to be dismissed.

"Before you go captain, Admiral Delzon wishes to talk with you and Jedi Bastila." Daguerre intoned and Carth nodded. "Then the council will reconvene in a half hour to discuss the matter of the Palador Sector." Daguerre said as the two captains followed Admiral Delzon outside of the chambers.

Bastila rose from her meditation crouch as the two men exited with a full admiral. She bowed slightly and the admiral smiled.

"Jedi Bastila, I am Admiral Delzon and I see you have met Captains Onasi and Solon." He said and she smiled at Carth.

"Congratulations captain." She said feelingly and the newly promoted officer smiled.

"I am pleased as well. I have my own ship, the _Retribution_." He said and Delzon smiled.

"Indeed captain. Jedi Bastila, I have talked with Master Aetius at the temple and he has agreed that you are to be attached to the command group of these two captains." He said and the Jedi frowned.

"Admiral, I am not even a Jedi Knight." She protested.

"But you will not be alone. An old friend of these two captains will be coming with you to help you if you should require it."

"We are to be independent sir?" Solon asked surprised.

"Although the full details of your missions are not finalised, your command, captain will be of considerable use in various tasks."

"Understood sir. Is Jedi Bastila to accompany us when we depart?" Carth asked.

"No, not at this moment. Your first few weeks will be learning captain. When you return you will pick up the Jedi and begin. We are sending similar groups to many places across the galaxy to probe the Sith defences. You group will be strong enough to fight off anything but a whole battlefleet until you can escape."

"Admiral, we have some friends that I promised to drop off on Kashyyyk." Carth said and Delzon nodded.

"So I heard. It will be your first test. A neutral area with the temptation of those close to you near. It will be a bloodless test. We do not object, take your ships into orbit or land as you wish."

"Thank you sir."

"Who is this Jedi who we both know?" Solon asked.

"A person that Captain Onasi met in the temple just four days ago. I believe you knew him captain from the Mandalorian War's beginning." He said and Carth nodded.

"Nantaris. Valiens Nantaris. That sounds like him. Volunteered did he sir?" He asked and Delzon nodded with a brief smile.

"It is him. He was quite insistent and he has agreed to help Jedi Bastila should she need his help. "

Bastila nodded. "I am pleased for that." She said.

He may be light hearted sometimes but inside he is a great man." Carth opined.

"His outward appearances is his greatest weapon." Solon said.

"I wish you luck captains, Jedi." Delzon said and retreated back into his room.

Solon smiled when the door shut and clapped his new subordinate on the shoulder. "Together again hotshot. The enemies of the Republic will flee from us." He said grandly as he led his friend towards the elevator.

"Did you know?" Carth asked and Solon shrugged.

"I could guess. Why else would you be called here with me in attendance?"

"I need to get some captain's bars." Carth said and Solon smiled.

"I think it is already accounted for. Look in your rooms for it. If not, ill go and hang the slacker in charge of the commissariat." He said happily.

"When do we leave?" Carth asked and Julius shrugged.

"I'll meet you at dawn on the military dock. Bay fourteen five days from now. I have a shuttle to take us to orbit and then we take a transport to our battle group's mooring at Kuat."

"Are we still going to pick up your son?" Bastila said and Carth nodded.

"I was just going to say. Solon, my son is coming to meet me, you want to come with us?" He asked and Solon considered.

"I would be happy to." He said after a moment.

"I think we will only just get there in time." Carth said and took his sword and pistol from the valet and strapped it about his waist.

The transport slowly settled down into the dock. Almost immediately, the gangplanks were extended and the swarm of people on board poured down the ramps. Carth's speeder arrived just in time and the captains and the Jedi moved through the crowds until they reached the gangway. Carth was understandably nervous as he waited. He looked around as the last people were exiting the ship, wondering if he had mistaken the number of the ship when he saw himself. Or rather, he saw a much younger version of himself walking down the ramp, almost the last one on board. He looked a great deal like his father but Dustil Onasi also had traits that had to come from his now dead mother. He smiled slightly and slung his bag over his shoulder as his father came forward to meet him.

"Dustil. So good to see you again." Carth said genuinely and embraced his son who smiled in an embarrassed way and awkwardly returned it.

"Father, I thought you might not be here." He said and Carth nodded.

"I know I have let you down before son and I know am going to again but I wanted to help you in anyway I can."

"You joining the fleet again?" His son asked and Carth nodded.

"I have been made captain. I have my own ship and will be meeting with in five days time."

"I see." Dustil said and Carth nodded.

"I know son, it is not what you wanted to hear but that is the way of it. I still have a duty to the Republic and to my friends.

"And your son?" Dustil asked sharply.

"Yes. You are a grown man now my son. You do not need me anymore. You and I may not see eye to eye and that is not going to change whatever happens. I do care about you Dustil and I will help you with what you wish but I have my path set. You are still free to choose yours."

"So you would just discard me. I came all this way to see you and now you tell me that you would leave me behind?" He asked and Carth sighed.

"What would you have me do son? Drop everything for you? You are nineteen now, you can do whatever you want and you do not have me in your way. I will give you whatever you need to make a new start and will meet with you whenever I get the chance but I am not giving up what I do. Not for you and not for anyone." Carth said stubbornly.

Solon glanced at Bastila from their spot ten foot away. "That is the Carth Onasi I remember."

"He has always been stubborn captain. As long as I knew him." Bastila murmured.

Dustil's face went red and then he sighed and nodded. "I suppose you are right father. I suppose I let you down."

"No son, you were tricked into what you did. The Sith doubtless knew that I was your father and were training you to be used against me. I could never fire on you or any ship you commanded. If we met in battle, it would be a disaster." Carth said quietly and his son nodded.

"She seemed so sincere." Dustil said and Carth nodded seriously.

"She was an agent and she played you like she doubtless played others. However, I guess she was starting to see you as a person rather than a bargaining tool so they killed her."

"I regret many things father."

"But you cannot undo them. All you can do is start again."

"I suppose you are right father. I was just so angry after Telos. I blamed everyone but I blamed you most of all."

Carth laid a hand on his shoulder. "We all get angry. I chased Saul for years but when I was finally rid of him, I felt no better. Anger will not bring them back, only make the spiral of violence continue."

"I see that now. I see that I achieved nothing but making me hate you. Can you forgive me?" He asked and Carth nodded.

"I can my son. I forgive you if you can put up with me." He said and Dustil nodded.

"You have your career before you and I have my life before me. I think that I should try to do my duty, to show my devotion, to use the skills of the Sith against them."

"What would you do?" Carth asked.

"Stay with you and then go and see if they want me in intelligence."

"I know some people there. I can get you an interview at least." He said and Dustil nodded.

"I would like that. Can I stay with you until you leave?" He asked and Carth nodded.

"Of course you can my boy. I would like that." The captain said and turned with his son to his two friends.

"Dustil, I do not believe you have met either of my two friends. Captain Julius Solon, my new commander and Jedi Bastila Shan." He said and Dustil nodded in affirmation.

"I remember you captain, we were introduced at my father's graduation from the academy."

"I remember now. You look more like your father than I could guess." Solon commented and the son nodded.

"Bastila, can you get the speeder warmed up?" Solon asked as an aside and Bastila nodded slowly. She had no real desire to do this but it was not worth complaining.

The Jedi walked across the now mostly empty platform. There was only a single man who stood watching the four intently. He was hooded and cloaked so his face was hidden but his gaze was obviously hostile. Bastila walked ahead of her friends towards where an array of vehicles were parked. One speeder however was not parked with the others but was left carelessly in the middle of the platform. Its grey colour and battered appearance had made it an object to be overlooked as now the four ignored it. Bastila walked with the errant device to her left towards their own machine. The cloaked man was directly to her front and right and now he called out in a sibilant voice.

"Ms Bastila Shan?" His voice carried to the other three who looked up.

"Yes, what do you want?"" She asked and the man chuckled.

"Simply to say goodbye, traitor." He said and suddenly everything seemed in move at once.

"Bastila, get down!" Carth yelled but it was too late. The man flourished a white tube and then pressed it with a dramatic gesture. Perhaps it was her Jedi senses, her combat training, her instinct for danger or just luck that she jumped to the right as the speeder shattered into flames and metal shards.

Bastila caught a brief glimpse of the speeder detonating as she jumped desperately to the side, presenting a smaller target. She was lifted up and thrown to the side, she felt a massive blow on her arm and the smell of burnt cloth and then everything went black as she hit the platform. Carth threw himself down, dragging his son behind him as the fragments whirred over him. Solon was on his feet quickly and running over towards Bastila. Carth scrambled to his feet and running as well but Solon had seen the cloaked man running to another speeder nearby.

"Carth, look after her, he is mine." He said grimly and sprinted off.

"Julius wait!" Carth yelled but Dustil grabbed his arm.

"We have to look after her. Call for help." His son commanded and Carth pulled out his communicator.

While Carth was calling for assistance, Solon sprinted down the platform towards the man who had thrown off his long cloak to reveal himself being a tall black haired man with a black set of clothes. The man ran and jumped into his speeder and hurled it backwards. As he did so he pulled a pistol and fired a hail of shots towards the pursuing Solon. The captain threw himself into the cover of a boiler and returned fire but his enemy was already moving away. Solon leapt into the nearest machine and shot out the locking system. The vehicle locator was working and Solon reckoned that would do the trick for him. He threw the machine forward after the disappearing shape of the speeder; he pushed the machine to maximum speed as he swept through the nightmarish tangle of buildings and flying machines. The Republic captain could see he was getting no closer to the enemy despite his efforts and he cursed and called up his communicator.

"Coruscant security, this is Captain Julius Solon, suspect is in speeder and I am pursuing. Home in on my vehicle identity signal." He said and got a swift reply.

"Understood captain, good luck."

Julius could see the man in front of him trying to shake him but the Republic captain knew this part of the city better than any other and threw his machine into a stomach turning lurch through two buildings; ducking his head as the open topped machine lost its windscreen. Solon swept through with his pistol drawn into the wind and saw the suspect, much closer than before rocketing away. Solon charged forward and fired a shot at the enemy whose craft jerked in surprise as the occupant turned to see his pursuer. The bomber suddenly stopped his engines and through his machine aside as Solon; caught by surprise flew past. The enemy agent fired a half dozen shots in his machine as Solon rocketed past. Solon knew he had been fooled but he also knew his speeder was damaged and that the enemy pursuing could slam shots into him with no return fire. Solon therefore hit upon a desperate plan as a row of dark buildings passed to left and right; he suddenly cut his own engines but turned broadside to the approaching craft. The two opponents fired a hail of shot but it was Solon's weapon; prepared and steady, that did the more damage. The opponent's transport flamed from a series of holes in the front but it did not stop him closing in to ram the Republic soldier's machine. Solon holstered his weapon and then leapt from the side of his speeder as the enemy came on relentlessly. Solon's leg almost buckled as he hit the surface and he threw his body so he hit the other driver as he flew backward. The machines clashed and this and the surprise of the assassin caused the machine to go out of control and smash through the windows of the nearby apartment building. Solon's former speeder lost its gravity suppressor and plunged into the empty depths as the other speeder crashed.

Solon was lifted bodily by the force of the blow and crashed into a pile of boxes and crates as the abused machine slid to a halt. They were in a wide empty room which held only a few boxes and wooden crates. Solon staggered painfully to his feet and drew his pistol as his assailant pulled himself free and drew his own weapon. Solon focused his vision as the equally battered opponent kept his weapon on the Republic captain.

"Drop the gun." Solon said and the two began a slow circling game.

"No captain, you drop your gun." The other man said in a level tone.

"Why would I do that? I have a hundred men coming to back me up. They will be here soon." He said and the other man smiled unpleasantly.

"Not really a good reason captain. I'm a desperate man, I will shoot and you will not."

"Are you certain about that? You killed my friend." He said and the man chuckled.

"The traitor deserved death. Traitors to the Sith die to them. I would have preferred if I could have killed you all but I had to take what I could." The Sith assassin gestured with his gun. "So what now captain?" He asked with a hate filled mocking in his voice.

"Drop the gun and you may surrender."

"Surrender. Republic dog! You will never take me alive!" He declared and drew out a small silver ball and held it in his hand. "Not so certain now are you?" He asked and Solon frowned.

"Cobalt bomb. You explode that and we all die." Solon said and the assassin smiled broadly.

"That is the point captain. Drop the gun unless you wish a good number of innocents to die as well as yourself." He stated and Solon shrugged. "You will do it anyway. My security troops are coming."

"Perhaps you are right captain. I however value my own life so I am giving you a choice, get out of the way and let me go or you and everyone near me dies."

"I can't do that; you tried to kill me and my friends."

"She was the target and not you, I have no orders for you. Now move." He ordered and Solon nodded.

"Alright, since you give me no choice." He said and dropped his gun. "Now deactivate the bomb and get out." He said and the other man nodded.

"Good choice captain." He said and looked aside for a second to deactivate his weapon.

As he looked aside, Solon dropped to one knee, scooped up his gun and fired. The shot slammed into the Sith's right arm, the arm with the explosive and it flew aside as he cursed. The enemy pistol cracked three times but Solon had circled behind a pile of boxes and now attacked. The Sith; his right arm hanging useless nevertheless raised his weapon again. Solon knew he had no time so he threw his weapon at the man and launched himself forward; coming up at a roll. The Sith was staggered by the weapon's impact and his next two shots went wide. As he tried to re-aim, Solon attacked.

The captain; while not young was no slouch to the brutal nature of close quarter fighting. Furthermore his opponent would not release his pistol and with one arm broken and bleeding he was encumbered; he was not defenceless and cracked off a round as Solon struggled with him. The blast seared past Julius whose first blow hit the Sith in the stomach. The man countered with a vicious kick and then tried to pistol whip the naval officer who was forced back by the heavy blows; he did not stand still but hit the man in his broken arm. The Sith snarled and tried to use the pistol as an extension of his fist; Solon caught it and chopped his other hand harshly down behind the elbow of the enemy and slammed him into the nearby wall. The Sith dropped his gun and scrambled for his explosive, lying just out of reach. Solon countered by gently booting the device away and laying five heavy blows into the man. Solon wanted this man alive but his opponent broke free and staggered back and in a single movement ripped a tablet from his belt and bit into it.

"One day, Republic dog." He said and then choked and fell. Solon ran over but the man was unconscious already from the poison he had taken.

The security officers broke in and their leader ran over to Solon whilst the men looked around at the ruined room in amazement.

"Captain Solon?" He asked; uncertain whether the bloodied man in the torn uniform was the captain.

"Yes lieutenant. He bit into a poison capsule it seems. I almost had him. Be careful, there is a cobalt bomb in the corner." He warned and sat on the remains of a crate.

"Impressive work sir." The man said and Solon nodded.

"Not quite good enough though. I would have liked to know who sent him and why."

"The governor will be interested to hear your story." The man said and Solon shrugged.

"You know the details lieutenant. What about the others on the platform. Are they hurt?"

"The Jedi is alive but I did not get the state of her injuries. She is being taken back to the temple." He said and saluted.

"Fine. Now can I use your speeder? As you see, the two in the chase are not really much use anymore." He said with a faint smile and the lieutenant nodded.

"Of course sir, good luck." He said and Julius Solon walked from the scarred room, deep in thought.


End file.
